Cursed
by Eh Man
Summary: FINISHED Stanley Yelnats takes the blame for a 'crime' he didn't commit. His punishment is unexpected, but is it deadly? Takes place during the book. Slightly AU No slash/sex/MS
1. It Begins

Author's Note: Hello, all. I think there should be an actual Holes section. I suggested one, but so far no word. This is my first Holes fic, and I think there is a shocking lack of stories in the middle-of-book time frame. All of them (with the exception of I think one) are either about Holes 2 or a girl coming to Camp Greenlake. I think that is just sad. There is also a frightening lack of no Stanley-centred fics. So here's an angsty, slightly AU Holes ficcy with the main character being Stanley Yelnats.  
  
I hope you like it.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Holes.  
Timeframe: This story takes place just before Zero runs away.  
  
~*~  
Stanley Yelnats pushed the shovel up over his shoulder as he walked back from digging his hole. He placed it back in the little shed labelled 'library' and went to go have a shower. Mr. Sir slammed the shed doors shut and clamped on a padlock, glaring all the while at Stanley.  
  
After a much needed, and altogether too short shower, Stanley dragged himself to the clubhouse. Zero's reading lessons had stopped this week because some boys from C-tent were threatening to tell on them for Stanley only digging half a hole. So they had decided to wait a week, just to be safe.  
  
Stanley sat on a deflated chair and picked at the foam coming through the hole. Zero came and sat beside him on the large chair.  
  
"D-O-G." Stanley said quietly. There was nothing stopping him from practicing with Zero.  
  
Zero thought for a while. Than he looked up at Stanley.  
  
"That's easy. Dog." He said.  
  
Stanley nodded.  
  
"Alright, I'll ask some harder ones than." He paused. "S-H-O-V-E-L"  
  
Zero was quiet for longer with that one. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair as he concentrated.  
  
"Showve.... Shovel!" He said, a bit triumphantly. Stanley laughed.  
  
"Soon I'm going to run out of words! Alright, C-A-M-P."  
  
Zero thought again.  
  
"Cam. Camp." Stanley nodded. He fell back on the chair. "Oomph. Zero, I'm getting outta shape with only digging half a hole. Digging a full one is killing me!"  
  
"You never were in shape." Zero said quietly. "You always were a slow digger."  
  
Stanley snorted. "Coming from the living mole." Zero smiled faintly.  
  
"Hey! Caveman!" X-Ray shouted from where him, Squid and Armpit were playing pool on the trashed green surface.  
  
Stanley waved back, but Zero said nothing. They hadn't greeted him.  
~*~  
Stanley stared across the desert. Dirt was blowing up in the early- morning darkness.  
  
"Gotta beat the sun." Zigzag muttered from ahead of him, his shovel over his shoulder.  
  
"It's better than digging in the hot sun." Squid replied from beside him. He had his baseball cap on and his orange suit top hanging around his waist.  
  
Stanley kicked at a dirt pile he passed, some sand getting in his boot. He grasped his shovel behind his back as he walked, ignoring the thump of the wooden shaft against the back of his legs. Zero walked beside him, his shovel up on the back of his neck; his hat pulled low over his eyes.  
  
"Dig here." Mr. Sir grunted finally as the holes were becoming more spread out. Stanley just nodded, and shoved the tip of his shovel hard into the hard surface of the dirt. He pushed down on the top with his foot for leverage, and pulled up clumps of hard-packed soil.  
  
"Hey Mom." He heard X-Ray say after a while. Stanley turned around and saw Mr. Pendanski walking around the growing piles of dirt. The older man had sunscreen on his nose and a whistle around his neck.  
  
"It ain't time for lunch yet, what's with the visit?" Magnet asked he wiped sweat of his forehead. The sun was not quite just above them yet, the signal for lunch.  
  
Mr. Pendaski smiled a fake smile at Squid.  
  
"I'm just coming around and seeing how you're doing."  
  
'Right.' Thought Stanley. There had to be some other reason why the councillor would suddenly decide to walk through a desert in the hot sun to see kids building character.  
  
"You've never come around before lunch before." Armpit said.  
  
"I have come before, Theodore, you just haven't noticed."  
  
From the raised eyebrows and disbelieving looks from the boys Stanley guessed he was lying. He certainly hadn't just randomly come around since he had been there.  
  
With a shrug, Stanley went back to digging his holes. Zero was right; he was a slow digger. He didn't want to be the last one out here again, although he probably would be anyway.  
  
Lunch came and went. Stanley now had a full water bottle, or as full as Mr. Sir would fill it. He still hated Stanley for being the reason he got the side of his face raked by the Warden. Stanley guessed that would never change, but one could hope.  
  
Slowly, one by one the D-Tent boys finished their holes and left. Stanley finally finished his hole and climbed out the side. Grabbing his shovel he trudged back to camp.  
  
When he arrived at camp, he was surprised to see the D-Tent boys lined up in front of their tent getting yelled at by Mr. Sir. Their shovels all lay in a large pile behind him and the boys hadn't had showers. Although it was hard to tell at Camp Greenlake. Stanley felt bad for Zero. If he had been standing here since he finished his hole, he must have been standing here for hours. Same as for the other boys, but not quite as long. Stanley quietly shoved his shovel in with the others and stood beside Zero. Mr. Sir didn't seem to notice him.  
  
"This ain't a girl scout camp!" Mr. Sir's voice carried over the dirt. Stanley wondered if there was actually a point to the verbal tirade or Mr. Sir was just in the mood to yell.  
  
"Alright, all you girls here?"  
  
Interesting, thought Stanley, he says it isn't a girl scouts camp then calls us girls.  
  
Apparently having done a head count of the boys in D-Tent, Mr. Sir continued.  
  
"There's a problem here. One of these shovels," He suddenly reached behind him and pulled up a shovel. The shovel marginally smaller than the others. X-Ray's shovel. "Is shorter than the others. Some slacker hasn't been doin' his share o' the work."  
  
The boys were quiet. X-Ray was calm as always, peering at Mr. Sir through his dirty glasses.  
  
"Who uses this shovel?" Mr. Sir asked, finally getting to the point. His drawl seemed a bit more pronounced today than on previous occasions. He pulled his cowboy hat lower on his head, squinting at the boys lined up in front of him.  
  
There was silence. None of the boys volunteered any information. Especially not X-Ray, who's shovel it was. Mr. Sir's gaze was drifting towards boy with glasses; it was common knowledge he was the leader in D- Tent. Especially if Zigzag was right, and the Warden did have microphones and cameras.  
  
"It's mine." Stanley suddenly said. All the boys turned to look at him, and Mr. Sir narrowed his eyes. It was also common knowledge that Mr. Sir hated Caveman. "I always use that shovel. I-I didn't know it was shorter."  
  
Mr. Sir walked right up to Stanley and glared down at him. Stanley could see the other boys behind his back, all looking surprised he had spoken up. Suddenly, the Texan reached forward and grabbed Stanley by the front of his orange suit.  
  
"Come with me." He spat between clenched teeth, and dragged him towards his office. Stanley suddenly smelt the strong smell of liqueur on his breath. The man was stumbling slightly as he walked. Mr. Sir was drunk.  
To Be Continued...  
~*~  
  
Author's Notes: Duh, duh, DUHNNN!!!! Mwahahaha! I think I'm the only one who knows what's going to happen (but I'm willing to hear your guesses!), but lets just say it's not going to be easy for poor Caveman.  
  
REVIEW!!!!!!! Please?  
  
Later days,  
  
~Eh, Man  
*  
  
P.S. : Does anyone actually read this section? Is anyone reading this story? Please, review! If you don't have time, or just generally don't like reviewing just drop a name or a line saying your actually reading this and I should keep going! Please! At most it takes a total of a minute to jot down a few things! 


	2. Down the RabbitHole

Author's Note: Hello, all! I'm back again with the next chapter!  
  
It's a bit short, for me anyways. Sorry bout that.  
  
Oh, and just so you know, Mr. Sir's accent is going to be VERY WEIRD because first of all, I don't know what a Texan accent sounds like, and second, he's drunk.  
  
Oh my god! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! There are more people in this section then I thought! Of course I'll continue; I fully intend to finish this ficcy.  
  
And now to answer my -WONDERFUL- reviews:  
  
Elizabeth: That's ok. Neither can I! ^_~ I will, don't worry!  
  
Karebear: Thanks so much for putting in the effort! It is hard to write when no one is reading.  
  
The names Bob, Sponge Bob: As am I! Thanks for the review!  
  
Satan's Apprentice: I want to know what happens to! * waits patiently for fic to write itself, but nothing happens * Damn, guess I'll have to write it. No! Don't explode! * Douses Satan in water * Oh. See, I can't spell. -_-  
  
ME ^_^: Uhm. Nice screen name! Thank you, I will!  
  
Shea Elven Heart: Mr. Sir is EBIL. I agree. * shakes fist * Want to hear my list of Holes babehs? Stanley, Zero, and Ziggy! Isn't that such a sweet name? Ziggy, Ziggy, Ziggy! Mueah. That's an interesting word too. * goes off muttering 'continue' over and over *  
  
X_Cherrykoolaid: Yes! We desperately need a Holes section. * glares at fanfiction.net peoples * I will!  
  
Roses_R_Red: Sorry about the cliffy. Yes, I tend to do that. There's another one here, too. Whoops? Continue I will. * bows * I sound like yoda. ^_^  
  
The One and Only Trey: Here ya go! Thank you!  
  
WheelerChick: Yay! You reviewed! I hoped you would. Hmmmm...I didn't know you could get drunk off cough syrup and mouthwash. Stupid manufactures. I KNOW!!! There's a -reason- it's an all-boys camp. Besides, it's not canon! * stops foot * Well, I guess it could be AU. But at least in this sorta-AU it could actually have happened. Maybe. Louis Sacher could have just left it out...? Gagh, I'm fighting a losing battle. In any case, thank you so oh-so-very-much! (By the way, could you write another Holes ficcy? Your last one was great.)  
ALL RIGHT EVERYBODY, HERE'S THE PLAN! EVERY BODY SUGGEST A HOLES CATEGORY. THIS IS JUST GETTING SAD. THERE ARE WAY TO MANY HOLES FICS TO BE SCATTERED ALL OVER THE SITE.  
  
Just email newcatagory@fanfiction.net. Say the category, which area it falls under, and whether you have stories written for it. We'll have a Holes category in no time! Now on to the fic! Thanks for reading!  
~*~  
Stanley stumbled along after Mr. Sir, the front of his orange suit firmly in the Texan's grip. He awkwardly turned his head around to look at the rest of D-Tent and was surprised to see them all still standing there with there eyes shaded with their hands staring after him. Stanley tripped over a pile of dirt and Mr. Sir roughly pushed him back up into a walking position. Mr. Sir wasn't having much of a better time walking either, but his was not from not looking where he was going. He was drunk, and was weaving slightly as he walked. Stanley noticed that the man still had hold of X-Ray's shoves in his left hand. Why did he still have it?  
  
Stanley didn't know why he took the blame for X-Ray. He had said that if he found anything he would give it to X-Ray, and in return got respect from him and the rest of the tent. But he hadn't found anything. This also resembled the time when he had taken the blame for Magnet for stealing Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds. He had been burning mad then, who knew what he'd be like when he wasn't in his right mind.  
  
Mr. Sir shoved Stanley in his cabin and looked closely with bleary eyes at the red-taped shovel. Stanley stood quietly, not wanting to make the Texan any madder than he was already. Mr. Sir finished inspecting the shovel and glared at Stanley.  
  
"I don' like you. Never have. It's 'cause 'a you I have these scars on my face." He drawled and pointed to the scratches on his face from the Warden. Mr. Sir went to the little fridge behind his desk, but instead of taking out a soft drink he opened a bottle of beer.  
  
Stanley wandered if he was taking up drinking instead of smoking.  
  
Mr. Sir gulped down some of the beer and wiped his mouth messily. He blinked stupidly, trying to get his bearings before smirking at Stanley and downing the rest of the drink. Stanley guessed that he had asked for the drinks with the next shipment. Supply shipments came every two weeks.  
  
He stood up from where he had been sitting at his desk and swayed a bit. He advanced on Stanley with the shovel.  
  
Stanley took a step back from the approaching man, gasping for breath as he stood in front of him. The Texan smelled heavily of alcohol. Mr. Sir held the shovel up in Stanley's face.  
  
"You see this shovel?" He asked, his words starting to run together. Stanley nodded, his eyes wide. Mr. Sir fingered the sharp edge to the shovel. "Ya see the metal on the edge there?"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Sir." Stanley said, somewhat meekly.  
  
"Sharp. You could kill someone with this shovel, ya know."  
  
Stanley said nothing. What was he supposed to say? 'That's nice, Mr. Sir.' Didn't seem like it would go over well. Mr. Sir wasn't going to kill him, was he? Stanley thought wildly.  
  
Mr. Sir fingered the shovel once more, swaying slightly.  
  
"Take a good look at this shovel." Mr. Sir said loudly.  
  
'Why is he so obsessed with the shovel?' Stanley thought, but his thoughts were cut off as the shovel suddenly swung at his head and everything went dark.  
~*~  
"I wonder what Sir's gunna do with the Caveman?" Magnet asked the other D-Tent boys as they filed in for bed.  
  
"Why isn't he back yet? No-one has been gone this long before." X- Ray said as he sat down on his bed.  
  
"Maybe Sir killed him and buried his body in a hole." Zigzag suggested, staring at the roof of the tent.  
  
"I swear man. You're paranoid." Squid stated.  
  
Zero said nothing.  
  
It was dark out, and all the tents were going to bed. Stanley still hadn't gotten back yet, and D-Tent was getting worried.  
  
X-Ray couldn't figure out why Caveman had taken the blame. He had no reason to. X-Ray didn't know why anyone would do anything if there was nothing in it for them. Everyone knew Mr. Sir hated the Caveman, who knew what the man would to him. Besides, X-Ray knew the man was drunk. He could tell; his father had been an alcoholic. He knew the signs.  
  
Armpit grabbed the sheet from Stanley's bed and crunched it up and put it under his head as a large pillow.  
  
"Maybe you should leave that for Caveman. He's going to want it when he comes back." Zigzag muttered.  
  
"Shut up, Zig. IF he comes back." Squid said, laying down with his hands behind his head. "I thought you thought Ziggy was being paranoid. And how come you don't like Caveman, Squid?" X-Ray asked.  
  
Squid shrugged.  
  
"He's a pretty boy. I mean, common, who writes to his mom from detention camp?" He said.  
  
X-Ray looked at Squid. He thought maybe Squid just wished his mother would write to him.  
  
Zero said nothing as always, and turned away from the rest of the boys. He hoped Stanley was all right. He was the first friend Zero had ever had, and the only one at Camp Zero was willing to talk to. Besides, he wished Stanley could give him some words. He tried doing it himself, but he couldn't spell out the words correctly and then say the word, first he had to think of a word than spell it out. It didn't work. 'Come on, Stanley. You have to be ok. You're the only friend I have.'  
~*~  
Stanley woke up lying on a wooden floor. He sat up, but the world started spinning, so he lay down again. He realized there was dirt pressed against his face from the floor, and brushed it off as he tried to slowly sit up. The world spun again, but slowed down a bit. He brought a hand up to brush the sand out of his now Zigzag-resembling hair and his stomach did a nasty turn as he felt something wet and sticky. He brought a shaky hand to the front of his face and his eyes widened and the red liquid on his fingers. Blood.  
  
He glanced out the window of Mr. Sir's office and was surprised to see the sun near the east horizon. Morning? But, he had last been in Mr. Sir's office at evening. He must have been unconscious for the night and a bit of the day.  
  
Suddenly a creak sounded and Stanley snapped his head around. Through the added dizziness he saw the door open and Mr. Sir come in. He didn't seem to notice Stanley there, and that wasn't a good sign. He went to his small fridge and took out a can of beer. Turning around he saw Stanley standing there and spit across the room at him.  
  
"Awake, are ya?" He drawled. He swayed and propped himself up against his desk.  
  
'Shit,' Stanley thought. 'He's drunk again.' Maybe Mr. Sir actually HAD taken up drinking. It was a frightening thought.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Sir." Stanley said, holding a hand to where his head had freshly started to bleed.  
  
"I'll teach you not t' talk t' me in that way." Mr. Sir sneered angrily. He leaned down and grabbed the shovel from the ground, his cowboy hat falling off in a slightly comical way. Stanley didn't exactly feel like laughing. Fearing another hit over the head, Stanley tried to back up, but found he was already backed up against the wall.  
  
"Think that's funny, do ya?" Mr. Sir asked while advancing with the shovel. Stanley shook his head hard, ignoring the vertigo. He grabbed the wall behind him for support.  
  
"I'll damn show ya damn funny..." With drunken jerkiness, Mr. Sir swung the shovel into Stanley's stomach. Hard.  
~*~  
Author's Note: Mwahahahahha! I TOLD you I was the only one that knew what was going to happen to poor Stanley! Poor dude, he's gunna have hell to go through still.  
  
Just thought I'd leave you with a nice little cliffy to sweeten the deal. Don't worry, more will be out as soon as I can wrangle it!  
  
Review! Please? Thank you so much the people who did last time, it made my eternity. (Yes. Eternity. Muah.)  
  
So seriously, just drop a line or two on your way out! I'll be so very happy, and the chapter will come out quicker!  
  
Luv ya all,  
  
~Eh, Man 


	3. Just How Deep it Goes

Author's Notes: Hi again!  
  
Alrighty. I'm evil. Just so I say that right up front. I hope I don't get killed for this chapter. I warn you, there's some swearing and blood (poor Stanley! ^_~).  
  
Wonderful oh wonderful reviews:  
  
WheelerChick: Yes! * Kicks Mr. Sir as well * Heh. Well, this chapter doesn't have a cliffhanger. I think. I don't really know what qualifies as a cliffhanger anymore. ^_~ Sorry, I had this written a long time ago, but my life's been hectic. Sorry bout that. Hmmmm....* gets into Holes- plot-thinking-mode *. .... * ponders * I'll think about it. I'll let you know if I do! * spreads holes love far and wide *  
  
H-Chan: Gee, thanks! Poor Stanley is right. You have no idea what I have in store for the little guy.  
  
Incubus4lotr: You have a really hard screen name to type out, you know that? -_- lol. Ok. Anyway... It's ok. I'll do it for you. YO! Stanley! * Stanley comes over * Hey Stanley!  
  
Stanley: Erm. Hi.  
  
Man: * gives Stanley a hug * That was from Incubus4lotr.  
  
Stanley: * Scratches head * Uh. Ok. * leaves*  
  
Hheheheheh. Oh, by the way, I read your fic about a week ago. I reviewed. My computer crashed. Review go byebye. Man get mad at computer and go outside. End of story. It was good though! Keep it up with the Holes storys, everyone!  
  
Shae Elven Heart: Alright! Heheh! I call him Stanleypoo too! Mwahaha.  
  
Lotrfreek/holesfreek: Hmm, we get a lot of lotr fans here, don't we? ^_~ No, I checked. No Holes section in the movies section. A couple fics, but no section.  
  
GeeseFlySouthForTheWinter: No, it's not good. I will keep writing! Thanks for the encouragement! Sorry 'bout the cliffy. I don't think there's one here...You'll have to tell me! Yeah, I figure (along with WheelerChick and other authors!) that Squid would be jealous of Caveman. Yeah, I love my lil' Zero! * huggles Zero * He's so cute and cuddly! * pats him on head *  
Alrighty, because of the delay in updating and the evil cliffhanger, this is a semi-longer chapter. Hope you like it!  
~*~  
Zero walked slightly in front of the other D-Tent boys after Mr. Sir. The other boys followed through the dirt and sand; the sun hadn't risen yet. Stanley still hadn't come back.  
  
Mr. Sir was weaving through the holes, not able to walk in a straight line.  
  
"Maybe he'll fall in." Magnet muttered.  
  
As Mr. Sir told them where to dig, the D-Tent boys stared at his back, hoping to extract answers just by glaring at him. Finally, X-Ray asked the question.  
  
"Where's Caveman?"  
  
Mr. Sir turned around, and peered at him through squinted eyes. He chewed on some sunflower seeds as he pulled his cowboy hat lower over his eyes.  
  
"Dig." He grunted, and turned away; not answering X-Rays question.  
  
Squid covered his eyes and looked out over the dirt to the retreating form of Mr. Sir. Suddenly, he laughed.  
  
"Ha! The bastard tripped and almost fell in!" He sniggered.  
  
"Shut up, Squid." Armpit grunted from where he was already starting his hole.  
  
Giggles came from where Zigzag was digging, and X-Ray rolled his eyes. But X-Ray was starting to get very worried about Caveman. Shouldn't he be here by now? To be gone for a day, it wasn't normal. He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose and glared at his shovel. He liked his shorter one much better.  
  
Zero just sighed. He had his hat pulled low over his eyes, with some stubborn black curls sticking out from the bottom. He was already a good way into his hole. Where was Stanley?  
~*~  
With a gasp, Stanley's hands flew to his stomach. He was leaning up against the wall for support, and was starting to slide down. Mr. Sir brought the red-taped shovel away from Stanley and through the shovel to the ground, it's metal blade covered in blood.  
  
Mr. Sir sneered at Stanley, and left the office, the door slamming after him.  
  
Stanley concentrated on breathing. In, out. In, out. He brought his hands shakily up to his face and was startled to see both hands completely covered in blood. It reminded him almost of finger-painting when he was younger with red paint. Slowly, Stanley looked down to his stomach.  
  
His orange suit was ripped across his stomach. A five-inch gash was just above his navel. His skin was torn wide open, and blood was pouring out, staining his orange suit red. Staring down, the sudden shock passed and harsh dizziness and pain assailed him. He cried out, but the hoarse scream was lost in the wooden cabin.  
  
Stanley shoved his hands into the hole in his stomach, and took a few uncertain steps towards the door. He couldn't stay here, not Mr. Sir's office. What if he came back? He stumbled, but continued to walk towards the door. He had to get out of here. He reached the door, and leaned against it, closing his eyes. If only he could close his eyes for a moment...  
  
Stanley's eyes snapped open. No. He couldn't take the risk. Mr. Sir might come back to finish the job. He took a heavily shaking hand out of his wound and pushed the door open with his arm. Somehow he didn't think Mr. Sir would like it if he left a bloody handprint on his office door.  
  
As he came out into the sun, the world spun harder, and he couldn't tell up from down or left from right. His stomach turned over and he thought he was going to be sick. He just pressed his stomach harder to try weakly to stop the blood and continued to stagger on his way. The pain in his stomach intensified with the heat, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. For the first time in how many months, Stanley was cold. He couldn't figure out why, the sun was burning hard and as hot as ever. Maybe it had something to do with the incredible pain in his stomach.  
  
Stanley didn't know where he was going, but stumbled out in the direction of six clouds of dust on the dried lake bottom.  
  
~*~  
Zigzag dug his hole deeper, and deeper. He chucked the loose dirt up over his right shoulder, and into a growing pile on the surface of the lake. As he threw the new dirt over, he saw something fly through the air from his shovel and into his dirt pile. Eagerly, he searched through his pile. Maybe he would get the day off! Finding it was just a stupid rock, he through it back down and picked up his shovel again. His hole was the closest to camp, and when he thought he heard something like a groan, he looked up from putting the rock back in the pile.  
  
He saw a slightly bent over figure walking towards them, feet slightly dragging in the dirt. There was something familiar about the figure...  
  
"CAVEMAN!" Zigzag shouted, and jumped out of his hole.  
  
Heads of the rest of D-Tent snapped up and looked out to where Zigzag was pointing. As the figure got closer, they saw Zigzag was right, and it was indeed Caveman. The boys leaped out of their holes and ran towards him. Why wasn't he going any faster?  
  
Zero ran as well, realizing immediately that something was wrong. It wasn't like Stanley to just walk slowly like that.  
~*~  
Stanley wasn't feeling well, to say the least. His hands were firmly in his wound, and fresh blood was trickling down the side of his face. He felt dizzy and sick, and was shivering from cold, despite the sun and the fact he was sweating. Pain was coming in waves from his stomach, sharp and hard.  
  
He heard someone yell up ahead, and tried to lift his head to see who it was. He couldn't, only weakly tilt his head up. The bright sun sliced into his eyes, and the darkness that had been hovering on the edge of his vision increased, and he felt himself falling as he passed out into the darkness.  
*  
  
((I was going to stop there, but it was pretty short, so I'll go longer.))  
*  
"STANLEY!" Zero shouted, causing surprised and disbelieving faces from the other boys to be turned in their direction while they were running. Zero never talked. Ever. Only to Stanley. Even so, for Zero to yell something was out of the ordinary.  
  
As the boys came closer they saw what was wrong. Stanley had two hands pressed to his stomach, and a trickle of something dark running down the side of his face. Just as they came level with him, he raised his head a little, and they saw the shockingly paleness of his face, before he suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.  
  
The boys dropped to their knees beside him and Zigzag reached and pulled him over, face up. With a strangled yelp, he brought his hands away and gasped, staring at them.  
  
"Bloo...Blood." He stammered, eyes wide.  
  
"No shit Sherlock." Squid muttered as he stared at the unconscious boy lying in front of him.  
  
Stanley's hands had fallen away from his stomach as he fell. Dried blood covered his hands completely, and the front of his orange suit. Blood streamed down from a cut on his head, hidden by his hair. A huge gash was in his stomach, ugly and pouring out fresh blood. Stanley's face was pale and sweaty, but even though he was unconscious he was shivering.  
  
"Holy-" Magnet started but X-Ray cut him off.  
  
"Someone get Mom!" He said insistently, but no-one got up.  
  
Zigzag fell back and started muttering, eyes wide.  
  
"He killed him. I knew he would. You guys didn't believe me, but he did. He's dead; Mr. Sir killed him. He killed him-" He murmured, staring at Stanley.  
  
"Shut UP Zig, he's not dead!" X-Ray snapped, hitting the boy over the head. The leader of the D-Tent boys started to give orders. "Armpit, get off your ass and go get mom."  
  
Armpit nodded, looking dazedly at the blood seeping into the dirt. He didn't move.  
  
"ARMPIT!"  
  
The boy's head snapped up.  
  
"Go. Get. Mom." X-Ray said slowly. Armpit wasn't dumb, but he certainly wasn't getting the message.  
  
This time Armpit got up and took off towards camp.  
  
Suddenly, Magnet's head snapped up. "Where's Zero?"  
  
X-Ray turned and saw the short boy running towards them from the holes. He must have left without them noticing.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Zigzag asked, panicking. Without Stanley's hands pressed to his stomach, the blood was coming faster.  
  
"We gotta stop the blood, dumbass." Squid muttered. He looked at his dirty hands for a second, then tried uselessly to rub them clean on his even dirtier orange suit. With a shrug he just pressed his hands onto the gash in Stanley's stomach.  
  
"Uhm. How do you know first aid, Squid?" Magnet asked.  
  
Squid just glared at him, and kept the pressure on the wound, but pressed Stanley's hands there to.  
  
Suddenly, Zero was back. He had his water bottle, and pulling off the top, poured the contents on Stanley's face.  
~*~  
Stanley opened his eyes to a cold shock, which sent him into even more spasms of shivering. He tried to sit up, but hands were pushing him down. He realized there were five faces looking down at him. Through the dizziness, he tried to concentrate on the face directly above him.  
  
"Zero, dude, you wasted your water." He mumbled to Zero, who had still been trying to shake water from his empty bottle. Zero just smiled down at him.  
  
Something jarred his stomach, and he cried out as new waves of pain came on.  
  
"Sorry, man." Squid said. Stanley tried and finally pulled Squid's face into focus. He shook his head slightly, and some of the dizziness went away.  
  
Stanley realized his hands were pressed to his stomach in something wet and sticky. Something was holding his hands down. It was Squid. So that's why he had said sorry.  
  
Stanley squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them with determination.  
  
"Help me up." He said. The boys above him looked at each other, than shook their heads. "Come on." He pleaded. Lying flat on his back in the middle of the desert wasn't exactly thrilling.  
  
"Caveman...you don't know how it looks, man." X-Ray said.  
  
"Just help him up." Zero said quietly. The other boys looked at him in surprise, then nodded.  
  
As he was helped to his feet, new dizziness assailed him. He squeezed his eyes shut, but it didn't help. The pain in his stomach increased, as well as the weakness. He was still shaking. He was standing, but with Zigzag and Magnet's help. All of a sudden his stomach, which had been going in circles because of the dizziness, roiled. As his stomach churned and lurched, he broke away from the boys and stumbled toward a vacant hole.  
  
"Yo! Caveman! Where are you going?" Magnet yelled, but Zigzag chased after him and caught him as his knees buckled as he reached the edge of the hole. He leaned over and threw up into the hole, with Zigzag supporting him and keeping him from falling in. "Common, man, it's ok." Zigzag murmured as Stanley continued to heave.  
  
"Ew." Magnet commented calmly from with the other boys.  
  
All the boys had experience with people throwing up. Barf Bag had gotten heat stroke his first day there and had thrown up for two days straight. But he had never been this weak, and needed someone to hold him up.  
  
When Stanley had finished, he was weak and barely able to move.  
  
"Alright, just a bit farther. You can do it, common. It's going to be ok." Zigzag muttered to Stanley. Zigzag put Stanley's arm around his own neck and put his arm around Stanley's waist. It helped to be tall. Zigzag didn't even notice he was getting covered in blood in the process.  
  
By this time, the other boys had come over and Zigzag let Stanley down again. Squid took the bandana out from under his baseball cap and pressed it over Stanley's stomach, which had never stopped bleeding.  
  
"Back where we started." X-Ray said, shaking his head.  
~*~  
Author's Note: Mwahahahaha! I think I'm sadistic. You know what? I've been torturing my favourite characters since I was nine. Hmmm....  
  
Lol.  
  
Anywho, please oh please review! As you've probably noticed by now, I answer them all personally. ( I can't afford to hire someone to do it, ^_~)  
  
Alright, till next time,  
  
Luv y'all,  
  
~Eh, Man 


	4. To Trust Your Fellow Convict

Author's Note: Hi all! These A/Ns are going to be really short other then the reviews, ok? I just want to get this posted because I'm supposed to be in bed right now.  
  
By the way, in this chapter sorry if the characters are a little OOC. I tried to make them as close as I could.  
  
Oh, and about the goriness and torturing of Stanley. If I didn't do it, someone else would. ^_~  
  
Lovely Reviewers:  
  
The One and Only Trey: I have yet to figure out if this is an insult or a compliment. But thanks anyway!  
  
Sixstars: Stanley rocks! Heh, my penname amuses me too. Feel free to laugh at it all you want! Thanks for the review.  
  
Incubus4lotr11: Fanfiction.net can be annoying, but you gotta luv it. * gives Stanley huggles * heh. * shrugs at blood part * Meh. Sorry about the blood. Theres....er, a lot of it. -_- Poor Stanley indeed. SPREAD THE HOLES LUVIN!  
  
WheelerChick: I agree that it's 'ah'. Interesting word, 'ah', no? My dad works in the hospital too! Thank you, you don't know how much it means to me that I got my facts right. I may have to twist reality a bit for the plot (you're thinking right now, what plot? Lol), but I'll try to keep it real. Yo. OH MY GOD. It didn't mean anything to me when I first read this review, but think of the huge-arse coincidence. I wrote a fic with a matchbox 20 song (my first ever songfic!) and you just happen to go to their concert! I find that amazing. Cool. I envy you. I liked your Magnet ficcy! Thank you!  
  
Rattler: Yet another review I'm still trying to figure out. I think this one is more leaning towards 'compliment' though, for which I'm eternally grateful! Thank you for the review! Ff.net is annoying sometimes. Sorry about the pain!  
  
Eldalie Lavina: You have a hard screen name to type. Who's your first fav? Uhm, yeah. About your question. Mr. Sir knocked Stanley out with the shovel, showed the guys to their holes, and came back to hurt Stanley some more. Yupp, I'm sadistic. I think that's what happened anyway. I don't really remember, sorry.  
  
Satan's Apprentice: Erm. Actually, he's not dead. Just really, really hurt. Sorry? Lol. Thank you!  
  
Amy: Hmmm...Hmmm, good idea! Maybe later on in the fic or in a whole other fic, I haven't decided yet. But, good idea! (everyone's thinking, oh god Amy, what did you start... lol)  
  
Emily: Thank you so much!  
  
Celestra: Yay! I'm looking forward to your Holes fic, we need all we can get! Thank you!  
  
Estelle Yavitil: Ok! Thank you!  
  
Sagraco: OK! Thanks!  
  
Burnin': I've said this before, you're welcome to hang around my review section! ^_^ Who's Leezardh8er? Sorry for not making you feel good. -_-. I must say I felt a bit sick with the last chapter, too. Heh, Burnin', you're a pyro like Ziggy! ^_^ Erm, hi everybody! Jeez, hard to keep track of everybody. I'd talk randomness to ya longer, but I really gotta post this and really gotta go to the bathroom...which you REALLY did not need to know. Sorry. Heres the update. I'll talk more next time, I promise! ^_~ BTW, did I miss it, or do you not have Ziggy there?  
  
Alrighty, now on to the fic!  
  
I love you all, thanks for reading! And remember to review!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Holes  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The cry echoed over the dry lakebed, caused diggers from A, B and C tents to raise their heads in curiosity. A scorpion flicked its tail in the direction of the cry, and a rattle snake shook it's tail vigorously in self defence against the sudden noise.  
  
A yellow-spotted lizard jumped out of its hole with its teeth bared, only to leap back in after seeing the coast was clear.  
  
"Sorry man." Squid muttered, his face pale. He continued the added pressure that caused Stanley to cry out. "But you getting up made the bleeding worse, we gotta stop it or you'll be even worse off."  
  
"Seriously," Magnet said to Squid. "You. First-aid. How?"  
  
Squid just glared at the Hispanic boy. X-ray raised his head and wiped off his glasses with his forearm sleeve.  
  
"Would you guys cut the crap? This REALLY isn't the time." X-Ray said, a note of worry in his voice.  
  
"Siento lo que hice." Magnet murmured, staring down at Stanley.  
  
The boys were still crouched around Caveman. After his attempt to stand up, he had only gotten worse. Now he was bleeding more, as well as on the verge of just passing out altogether.  
  
"Ah!" Stanley cried again, as Squid pressed down harder on the gash on his stomach. The boys crouched around him were pale and looked like they wanted to look away, but they didn't.  
  
Zero grabbed Stanley's hand. He looked worriedly down on the face of his only friend. He seriously didn't know what to do. What COULD he do? What could any of them do? So Zero did the only thing he could think of.  
  
"Spell 'Stanley'."  
  
Everyone looked at Zero; Stanley opened his eyes.  
  
"S-T-A-N-L-E-Y." Stanley said slowly; not that he couldn't spell his own name, but it was difficult to talk.  
  
X-Ray nodded.  
  
"Spell 'Zigzag.'" Zero said to Stanley.  
  
"Hey!" Zigzag said.  
  
"Spell 'Zigzag is a dork.'" Squid muttered, brushing sweat out of his eyes and unknowingly causing a streak of copper-coloured blood to appear on his cheek.  
  
"Z-I-G" Stanley took a deep breath, his exhaling slow and shaky. "Z-A-G."  
  
Zero looked to X-Ray to see if it was right and X-Ray nodded.  
  
Zero looked up to see if he could find a new word in the deep blue sky.  
  
"Giraffe."  
  
Again, everyone except Stanley looked at Zero, who didn't say anything.  
  
Stanley squeezed his eyes shut against new waves of pain.  
  
"How DO you spell Giraffe?" Zigzag asked, his eyes wide on his pale face.  
  
"G-I-R-A" Stanley paused, gasping for a haltering breath, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "F-F-E!" He finished quickly, his curled hand scraping up some brown dust involuntarily.  
  
Zero looked to X-Ray who only shrugged.  
  
"Livingston." Zero said. Stanley opened his eyes in shock. Clyde Livingston. He used to be Stanley's Idol. How did Zero know? Maybe Zero was just a fan.  
  
"L-I-V-I-N-G-S-T-O-N" Stanley said in one breath, his eyes closing again. Than his faced blanched as pain racked his body.  
  
"Antidisestablishmentarianism." X-Ray said.  
  
"What the fuck?" Squid asked.  
  
Stanley laughed quietly.  
  
"It's the..." He paused for breath. "Longest word in the....the English language."  
  
"Weird!" Zigzag exclaimed. "Anti...Anti-disease-estab-men-tary-ism!"  
  
"Ok, seriously dude, not the time." Magnet said.  
  
Nobody said anything for awhile and the only sound was Stanley's harsh and pain-filled breathing.  
  
"Rex?" Mr. Pendanski called across the dry lakebed. "What's going on?"  
  
Five heads snapped up and saw Mr. Pendanski coming quickly towards them with Armpit running beside.  
  
"Anti-disease-estab-men-tary-ism!" Zigzag said when they were in hearing distance.  
  
"Anti-what?" Armpit asked; he and Mr. Pendaski came forward.  
  
"It's the longest word in the English Language!" Zigzag said proudly.  
  
"Actually, that's not true." Mr. Pendanski said from about five metres away. "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is."  
  
"Again, what the fuck?" Squid muttered, wondering why the hell Mom was giving them an English lesson when Stanley was bleeding to death.  
  
It didn't occur to them that Mr. Pendanski couldn't actually see Caveman yet, and was wondering why they were all crouched in a circle for no apperent reason.  
  
"Language, Alan." Pendanski said sternly. "And.....oh."  
  
He had finally seen Stanley.  
  
Needless to say, Stanley wasn't looking that well.  
  
Sweat and water made Stanley's slightly curly blonde hair damp and beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. His face was deathly pale, and there was blood running down the side of his head from a gash on his forehead. His pupels were dialated, the sign of a cuncussion, and he was constantly closing them against the dark throbbing headache raging in his head, not helped by the burning hot sun overhead. Blood covered about three-quarters of his torso. One of Stanley's hands was over the gash, the other laying in the dirt covered in blood.  
  
Squid had both hands pressed against the wound, seemingly uncaring that blood covered his forearms.  
  
"Seems like digging today might be a little harder, huh Stanley." Pendanski said brightly.  
  
All of D-Tent stared at him.  
  
"What the hell..." X-Ray whispered.  
  
"You'll be ok, won't you Stanley?" Mr. Pendanski asked Stanley, putting him on the spot.  
  
Everyone looked at Stanley, some wincing slightly.  
  
Stanley blinked, trying to bring the blurry councillor into clear view. It didn't work, and only made him dizzier.  
  
'Say no, say no....' Zero thought to himself. What was Mom going to do? Just leave Stanley lying on the lake? It was out of character for Stanley to complain. He had yet to complain about having a huge gash in his stomach. He probably blamed it on his no-good-pig-stealing-great-great- grandfather, but he just accepted it and moved on. 'Say no. He's got to help you, how are you going to get through this otherwise?'  
  
"I'm fine." Stanley said, but then squeezed his eyes shut and squeezed his free hand into a fist, ignoring how his nails cut into his hand. More blood sure wasn't going to hurt. The pain assailed him in stronger waves, and he resisted the urge to cry out. When he opened his eyes again Pendanski was smiling lightly at him.  
  
"Alright. No problem then. That's it Stanley, suck it up." He turned to go. He started walking, but then stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and the Warden is still going to want seven holes."  
  
As Pendanski walked away, the boys stared at him in shock.  
  
"What the fuck?" Squid asked for the third time, surprised. "Suck this." He fingered Mom's retreating back.  
  
"Ooookay. Lot of help that was." Zigzag muttered.  
  
"That was...Interesting." Magnet said slowly.  
  
"Now what?" Armpit asked.  
  
"We dig holes." X-Ray said, getting up indifferently. But his eyes betrayed his calmness; they were shining with worry as they gazed down at the pale, shaking and bloody Stanley.  
  
"No-way we're leaving the Caveman like this." Squid said, pressing harder on the profusely bleeding wound. "He's gunna fuckin bleed to death!"  
  
Stanley looked at him calmly.  
  
"Go dig. I'll be ok." He said quietly. He knew he wasn't in a good condition. He needed a doctor, but how would an ambulance get to Camp Greenlake in less then eight hours?  
  
Squid snorted. "Like hell you will."  
  
"I'm not leaving either." Zero said quietly.  
  
"You heard Pendanski!" Stanley said, gasping for breath. "He wants seven holes...I don't know how I'm going to dig mine though." He added as an afterthought.  
  
"Come on Squiddy, you've done all you can. And you gotta dig some time today. Look at the sun! It's high already." Zigzag said, standing up with X-Ray.  
  
Armpit and Magnet joined them in digging their holes. Squid tied his bandana around Stanley's waist as well as he could, then with a sideways smile stood up.  
  
"I learned first aid after my mom got pissed drunk one night and threw her bottle at me. I almost bled to death, and after that learned first aid in case it ever happened again." Squid explained quietly.  
  
Stanley nodded, and watched as Squid dug his hole. He turned to Zero.  
  
"Zero...You gotta dig too, man." He said breathlessly.  
  
Zero said nothing, only looked at Stanley like he could see through him.  
  
"Only if you let me dig your hole." Zero said finally.  
  
It was Stanley's turn to stare dizzily at him. The D-Tent boys said Zero was like a mole; he liked to dig. Stanley strongly doubted that. But he knew he couldn't dig his own hole, not like this.  
  
Finally, Stanley nodded. Zero stood up, and glanced back at him before starting to dig.  
  
Stanley was left alone.  
  
Putting both hands behind him, he forced himself into a sitting position and squeezed his eyes shut. Breath. In and out. In and out.  
  
New pain exploded in his stomach as he sat up. With his eyes still squeezed shut he wrapped his arms around his stomach and leaned forward, groaning.  
  
Soon he felt a hand on his shoulder. Forcing his eyes open, he looked at the blurry face through the vertigo. Zigzag.  
  
"Hey...Zig." He mumbled.  
  
"You ok man?" He asked. Stanley nodded.  
  
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Zigzag said disbelievingly.  
  
"Ok, I feel not too good, happy?" Stanley asked. He was in too much pain to argue.  
  
Zigzag sat beside him.  
  
"You know, you're strange, Caveman." He said. Stanley tried to focus on him through his daze. "How can you possibly be that hurt and not be complaining to no end?"  
  
Stanley blinked. This didn't sound like Zigzag.  
  
Zigzag looked out over the dry lakebed. "I doubt I'd be able to stand it that well."  
  
After a while, Stanley decided to try to answer.  
  
"Well, I got sick a lot when I was younger." Pause for a deep shaky breath. It was getting easier to talk. Whatever Squid had done had helped. Or maybe if this kept up he would just naturally slowly get better. "My parents were poor....and I didn't want to tell them...if I was sick." Stanley inhaled and exhaled slowly.  
  
"So if I was sick,...I pretended I wasn't. Now I just don't like to...admit I don't feel well." He finished shakily.  
  
Zigzag said nothing, but then turned back to Stanley.  
  
"Did I ever tell you why I'm here in the first place?" He asked.  
  
Stanley shook his head, ignoring the increase in vertigo it caused.  
  
"I used to be, well, still am I guess, a pyro. I burned down the school. And got sent here." Zigzag said. Stanley was distracted from his pain out of interest.  
  
"The judge sent me to a shrink. Everyone thought either I had something wrong with me because I was a little different. First, for some reason, they wanted to find out if I had a phobia. I figured I knew I wasn't pyrophobic." He smiled. Now Stanley was really interested.  
  
"You'd be amazed some of the ones they tried me for. I think they just wanted an excuse to say I was crazy. Actually, I'm just paranoid. "Suffers from acute paranoia." The shrink wrote. Hell, though, I've known since I was five I was paranoid." Suddenly, Zigzag laughed.  
  
"I learned a lot of the phobias just because I was tested for a lot of them. Did you know people have a fear of fears? Phobophobia. Some people have a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouth. Arachibutyrophobia. You know what though, I should have lied on one of the tests. Maybe if I said I had mysophobia they wouldn't have sent me here." He saw Stanley's confused look, and laughed.  
  
"Sorry, mysophobia is the fear of dirt." Stanley laughed. Zigzag sure didn't seem that crazy to him, now that he got to know him.  
  
Zigzag sighed. "Well, I'd better get back to digging my hole." He said, and got up. "Listen, Caveman, you don't have to lie to me or the rest of D Tent about whether you're sick or whatever. It's ok. Don't worry about it. Hey, maybe next time you can tell me why YOU got stuck in this hellhole." He laughed and Stanley watched blurrily as he walked back to his hole.  
  
The pain he had temporarily forgotten was back full force. Now he wished Zigzag hadn't left so he could have someone to talk to. The sun burned down on his forehead causing sweat to trickle down the side of his face. He wiped it off with his arm and saw blood there too. He really must look horrible. He wasn't surprised. He certainly FELT horrible.  
  
He was incredibly tired, but he knew he wasn't supposed to go to sleep. Besides, undoubtedly one of the boys would just wake him up anyway.  
  
An hour later, some of the boys finished their holes. But instead of going back to camp, they came and sat next to Stanley.  
  
The sun on his face added to the fact he had lost so much blood as well as having a concussion caused him to feel ready to faint. But he forced his eyes to stay open and concentrated on watching the boys still digging, well, dig.  
  
Finally, only Zero was left digging. Some of the other boys offered to help, but they knew it would go the fastest if Zero dug it. Zero threw the last dirt out of his hole, measured it, and then climbed out. He spat in the hole, and then walked over to where the rest of D Tent was sitting.  
  
"How are you going to get back to D Tent, Caveman?" Armpit asked. It was a good question; one Stanley had been asking himself for the past while.  
  
"Walk, I guess." Stanley said, still concentrating on breathing in and out.  
  
"It didn't exactly work last time you tried getting up." X-Ray pointed out. Stanley didn't say anything.  
  
"How is he going to get back then? We can't carry him." Magnet pointed out.  
  
X-Ray sighed. "I guess we'll have to try the walking then. You seem a little bit better, Caveman, maybe you can stay up this time."  
  
Stanley smiled weakly. True enough, he thought, I do feel a bit better.  
  
Not much.  
  
Squid stood up, stretched, and tried to wipe the dried blood on his hands on his orange jumpsuit. It didn't work. With a shrug he reached down and grabbed Stanley's arm. He pulled him to his feet.  
  
Stanley doubled over in pain, his knees close to buckling. Squid and Magnet grabbed him before he fell, he held him up for a minute.  
  
"Are you ok?" Magnet asked, as Stanley straightened up with a pain-filled groan. Stanley nodded, which caused Zigzag to sigh and shake his head. Stanley smiled ruefully at him.  
  
Squid let go, and Magnet supported Stanley.  
  
"Alright, it's not that far. You walked here by yourself before, remember?" X-Ray asked.  
  
After a quick nod from Stanley, they set out. Magnet switched to Zigzag, then to Armpit, then Squid, then X-Ray, and finally Zero.  
  
As they walked back into camp, most of the boys were already in the Wreck Room.  
  
"Zero." Stanley said as they walked through camp. "I'm going to faint."  
  
Zero looked worriedly up at him. He had his arm around Stanley's waist for support, and Stanley had his arm over Zero's shoulders.  
  
"Come on. Just a bit farther." Zero prompted. "Spell tired."  
  
"T-I-R...E-D." Stanley said, his eyelids starting to droop, but he forced them open.  
  
Suddenly, Stanley stumbled.  
  
"Whoa!" Zero yelled, as Stanley's knees buckled. Zigzag, who was nearest, grabbed Stanley from the other side, and looked down into Stanley's pale face.  
  
"Caveman! Dude! Wake-up!" He yelled, slapping Stanley's face. "Come on, were almost there. You can sleep when we get to the tent, man."  
  
Slowly, Stanley's eyes opened and he was pushed back to his feet. He swayed, but stayed upright. In, out. In, out. When did breathing become so hard?  
  
Then they were at the tent marked with D. Zigzag and Zero led Stanley to his cot, and he collapsed onto it. Immediately he passed out.  
  
Author's Note: * Feeling completely evil *  
  
Please give me some feedback! Good? Bad? The other? PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have no idea if your not a writer on ff.net how good it feels to get a review.  
  
By the way, in this chapter, could you tell one of my favourite characters is Ziggy? ^___^  
  
Oh, and all the information on the long words and phobias is real. Trusty internet. And how Ziggy got into Camp Greenlake is real too. I don't know about the shrink part though, it's likely. I think so anyway. Oh, and Pendanski knew about the longest word because he saw it on the internet (like me!) It seemed likely to me because he's a hacker. (Also true.)  
  
Luv,  
  
~Eh, Man 


	5. Nicknames

Author's Note: Hello again. Yes, I'm back. Mwahahahaha!  
  
Sorry this chapter is a little short, but I have to work out what happens next and I wanted to get this posted.  
  
Ack! 48 Reviews! I love you all! Thank you sooooo much! Gagh, this is going to take along time to answer...^_______^  
  
LOVELY REVIEWERS, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!:  
  
~*~  
  
Estelle Yavetil: Thank you!  
  
Eldalie Lavina: You have a hard name to type. ^~^ Really? Oh my gosh, thank you! You don't know how much that means to me because, well, I do it myself for some storys too! That someone is doing it for mine is so totally cool! I don't know if he will, like, die. -_- * sings in creepy voice * I'll nev-er teeeeellll.... Muah. Yes. Ziggy rocks muchly and has hotness in mass amounts. Thank you so much!  
  
Sixstars: Yay! I'm not the only one on this universe that says 'dude'! Everyone looks at me and tells me it's not the eightys whenever I say that....Thank you! Really? Hmm, Squidly had goodness, yes. ^_~  
  
WheelerChick: Why would I get offended. Dude, I'm a girl! Sure am old enough! * blinks eyes innocently while playing hopscotch, twirling pigtails, and licking a gigantic lollypop - all at the same time * Muah! I'm listening to Matchbox 20 right now! Thank goodness for Kazaa! Well, I guess I could put the CD in, but it's in my room right now. ALL the way at the other side of the house....* going through withdrawal symptoms * Where'd he go? * looks around for Stanley * I don't get it. -_- Heh. Everyone seems to think Stanley's gunna die. Gee, I wonder why....* whistles innocently * Gagh! * calls paramedics just incase * Actually, am downloading Maroon 5 songs as we speak, er, type. I type, you read. Whatever. Thank you!  
  
Incubus4lotr11 and Zigzag: Oooooookkk.... * backs away slowly * NO! ZIGZAG IS MINE! * huggles Zigzag *  
  
Stanley: What about me?  
  
Erm. * huggles both * Ziggy MINE! Yes master. * bows deeply * By the way, you do realize you said, PLEASE UPDATE SON? Thus the master bit. ^_~ Actually, I just flipped through CGL, and I didn't remember exactly what it said. And Squiddy sounds better! :P  
  
Burnin': Yes. Ahem. Very subtle. Awww, Ziggy, pink isn't that bad. At least it's not...ok, pink sucks. -_- sorry. * Hands pepto bismal * OMG! I'm soooo sorry Stanley! * runs over and hugs Stanley * And I know you, Zero! ^_^ Hey Zero, didn't Sploosh make you sick? And almost kill you? And yet you continue to eat it. * shakes head * Actually, that's pretty nasty when you think about it. Century year old peaches that have been lying out in the middle of a dried up lake under a broken boat. Wow, they just perk up MY appetite. * turns green * Hehe! I think you're wise, Zero! Speak, wise-man! Lol. That's great, 'spell duh'. Go Zero! Gee, where have we seen that burning church before??? O_O Aw great, now I feel even worse for poor Stanley. Sorry Stanley Dear! Yupp, I think that qualifies as a review. Apparently, hun. Don't worry, I couldn't spell it either. Thank god for spell check. A) Here's an update! Anything for my favourite burning church! * random person: She's the only burning church you know * Shush! B) Stanley's Guide to Camp Greenlake is an actual book (In bookstores (Mental Zero: Spell duh!)) by Lois (is it Lois or Luis?) Sacher. It's supposedly written by Stanley, and has little random facts and storys and stuff. I wanna buy it, but first have to find my way to a bookstore. It's sweet. I flipped through it once. And remembered some stuff, like Ziggy's a pyro, Pendanski's a hacker, X-Ray's mom is annoying, and yeah. Oh, and Magnet once jumped on the back of the supplies bus. And held on as it drove away. And turned up a couple days later. No one knows how or why or how far he made it. It has trivia and stuff. And Squid is SquidLY not SquidDY. Geez. Sorry Incubus4lotr11. Exactly. Why not?  
  
Remmy: Thank you! Uhm. I think there is help out there for people with multiple personalities. O_o heh. I'm glad you liked it. Okaaaaay. * blinks *  
  
Celestra: Heh! Ok! Well, now you know how I think Squid got his nickname...YAY! CUPCAKE! * stares lovingly at cupcake before gobbling it down * Thank you! For both the review and cupcake! Aww, I'm so envious. I want SYGCG!!! NOT FAIR! * pouts *  
  
Squid it da bomb: Yeah, well, a couple peoples did that, I guess it depends on which character you like. Thanks!  
  
Person: Yes, Pendanski is an ass. I established that a long time ago! Lol. That's ok, I like it too!  
  
Ziggy the Paranoid Pyro: Son of a wool weaver? O_O I haven't heard that one before! I like it! Sorry, I might use it from now on, ok? Thank you!  
  
~*~  
  
YOU GUYS ARE SO GREAT! Thanks so much for reviewing!  
  
And now on to the story!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Seriously, Squid, how is he?" X-Ray asked.  
  
The boys were in their tent. They had eaten dinner, but not gone to the Wreck Room. Instead, they had come back to their 'home'. Everyone wanted to know how their newest member was doing.  
  
Squid sighed.  
  
"He ain't good. He'll bleed to death if he doesn't get that sewed up. Or it could get infected, and finish him off that way. Either way..." Squid let it hang.  
  
Zero fell back onto his cot, and turned to where Stanley was sprawled across his own cot where he had collapsed. Blood had soaked through Squid's bandana and was spreading onto the white cot. Stanley was Zero's only friend. If he died, Zero would be alone. Again.  
  
X-Ray stared at Squid. He pulled off his glasses and wiped them tiredly on his orange jumpsuit.  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Magnet asked.  
  
Zigzag shook his head. "It takes what, eight hours for an ambulance to get here. Another eight hours back."  
  
Armpit nodded. "By the time they get here, Caveman's as good as dead."  
  
Zero rolled over and put his lumpy pillow over his head. Stanley wasn't going to die; Zero wasn't going to let him. There must be something they could do...anything.  
  
"Mom's still gunna want seven holes. Who's going to dig it? I'm sure not going to." Armpit muttered.  
  
Magnet hit him over his head. "Common! Caveman's one of us. If you were him, you'd want help with your hole, no?"  
  
Armpit mumbled something in the positive under his breath.  
  
"I'm gunna guess that tomorrow he'll be a little better, because he's been outa the sun, but after that he's going to have to get some medical help or he's going to die of blood loss." He gestured to the spreading red stain on Stanley's cot. "No one can lose that much blood and live."  
  
"Well, that's a happy thought." Zigzag muttered. "On the bright side, we have lots of graves to choose from." He motioned to the many holes in the lake bottom outside the open tent flap.  
  
This was met with a chorus of yells of "Zig!" and a lumpy pillow thrown at him.  
  
"What?" Zigzag asked, confused.  
  
"Common, we gotta get some sleep. Just be glad you aren't in his shoes." X-Ray told the rest of the tent, and everyone's glances strayed over to where Stanley lay unconscious.  
  
Zero squeezed his eyes shut under his pillow. This was going to be a long night.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Stanley. Stanley, wake up man."  
  
Stanley opened his eyes slowly, and was met with Zero shaking his shoulders. Behind him, Stanley could see the rest of the boys filing out into the darkness.  
  
4:30 am. Hole digging time.  
  
His stomach was on fire. He forced himself not to look down; he knew it must look horrible. He could barely move without excruciating waves of pain exploding in his abdomen. He had an incredible headache, as well.  
  
Zero turned and pulled the tent flap open. "Common, Stanley."  
  
Stanley cried out as he tried to get up. He pushed himself up on his arms, but then weakly fell back onto the cot. The world spun dizzyingly, around and around with Stanley caught up in the whirlwind.  
  
"S'okay Caveman." Said a voice behind him, and strong hands pulled him up off his cot. A hand went around his waist for support, then gently let go as Stanley swayed on his own two feet. Stanley twisted his head around. Zigzag.  
  
Zigzag gave him a half smile. Stanley tried weakly to smile back, but he wasn't very successful. Taking a few shaky steps, he felt his stomach turn over. Oh no. He took a few more steps, as fast as he could go. He reached the tent flap, went out into the darkness, then fell to his knees and threw up.  
  
His own arms wrapped around his stomach as he coughed and chocked. He felt a hand on his shoulder as Zero knelt beside him. Stanley leaned his face against the cool canvas of the tent. He unwrapped his arms from his stomach, and unwillingly looked down at his arms. They were covered in blood from his stomach.  
  
"STANLEY! ZERO! RICKY!" Pendanski called. "WHY AREN'T YOU IN THE MESS HALL?"  
  
"We're coming!" Zigzag called. He turned back to Stanley. "You okay now, Caveman?"  
  
Stanley nodded, and with Zero's help stood up shakily. The world increased in its vertigo, and he swayed horribly, but he remained standing.  
  
Slowly, they made their way to the mess hall, where the rest of the boys at Camp Greenlake were. Stanley sat down heavily at the D-Tent table, and wrapped an arm around his stomach as he tried not to cry out in pain.  
  
The boys acknowledged his presence by just a slight glance in his direction. This was to be expected, Stanley didn't expect nor want any extra attention. He already felt bad about the help he had gotten from Zigzag and Zero. The boys' talk continued without a pause in momentum.  
  
"Yo, you want anything to eat Caveman?" Magnet asked.  
  
Stanley glanced up at Magnet, but shook his head no. Just the smell and look of the food was making his stomach turn over.  
  
"'Kay." Magnet said as he could practically see Stanley turn a little green. "I can swipe you something later if you want."  
  
Stanley shrugged one shoulder.  
  
Zero gave a little sideways smile at the characteristic-ness of that movement. It had always been Stanley's 'trademark'.  
  
"Out of curiosity," Stanley said quietly, trying to take his mind off his pain. Everybody looked at him. "Why do you call me Caveman?"  
  
Everyone looked at X-Ray.  
  
X-Ray leaned back and crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, they call you X-Ray because you have x-ray vision, and Magnet because he is like a human magnet for stealing things, why Caveman for me?" Stanley asked.  
  
Squid nodded. "While we're on the topic, why the hell do you call me Squid?"  
  
"And why Zigzag?" Zigzag asked.  
  
X-Ray snorted. "Stand up, Zig."  
  
Zigzag stared at him. "What?"  
  
"Just stand up."  
  
Zigzag shrugged and got to his feet. He put one hand on his waist and leaned a little sideways, his long neck tilting back the other way.  
  
"You're answer, ladies and gentlemen." X-Ray smirked. Stanley turned to Zigzag again, seeing how he would react. "He's a human zigzag."  
  
To Stanley's surprise, Zigzag laughed. "Ok." And he sat back down.  
  
"You still didn't answer me," Squid pointed out, glaring at X-Ray. "Why Squid?"  
  
"'Cause in that fight on your second day here you fought like you had thirty arms," X-Ray stated. "It was either that or Inspector Gadget."  
  
Squid laughed silently to himself. "That bastard had it coming. And no way in hell were you ever going to name me Inspector Gadget."  
  
X-Ray smirked again. "Wanna bet?"  
  
D-Tent laughed. Then X-Ray turned back to Stanley.  
  
"You're Caveman, because you looked intimidating when you first got here, plus you didn't budge when The Lump pushed you."  
  
Stanley grinned. "Is his name really The Lump?"  
  
X-Ray frowned, but nodded.  
  
Stanley laughed weakly. It jolted his abdomen, causing more pain then he had from just sitting on the bench. "I named him The Lump myself, my first day here." The vertigo was getting harder and harder to ignore.  
  
Now it was X-Ray's turn to laugh. "Yeah, he's The Lump. But since that takes to long to say, we just call him Thlump." X-Ray shrugged. "Whatever works."  
  
Pendanski herding all the boys onto the lake to dig their holes interrupted their conversation.  
  
When Stanley stood up, he almost passed out from the waves of pain and dizziness that assailed him. Magnet grabbed his arm.  
  
"You ok Caveman?"  
  
Stanley squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.  
  
He stumbled after the boys out on to the lake. It was still slightly dark, which Stanley was thankful for. He didn't think he had the strength to face the sun. He felt worse then he did after his first hole, which was definitely saying something.  
  
He forced himself to the shed where the shovels were kept locked up, and supported himself by it. As the boys slowly walked out onto the dried lakebed Stanley followed stumbling with his suddenly heavy shovel.  
  
He didn't notice the other members of his tent kept glancing back at him every once in awhile.  
  
He didn't know how he made it to the digging destination without passing out. It was a miracle as far as he was concerned. Hey, you took all you could get when you were cursed.  
  
"How about digging here for today, alright boys?" Pendanski said brightly.  
  
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Armpit grunted as he pushed his shovel into the dirt.  
  
Stanley collapsed into a heap where he was supposed to dig. He was so weak. The world around him was spinning at an even greater rate then before. He put his head in his hands.  
  
This wasn't going to get any easier. Stupid no-good-dirty-rotten-pig- stealing-great-great-grandfather.  
  
He brought his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and put his head down on his knees. It helped the dizziness, a little, but was agony for his gashed stomach. Stanley could practically feel the skin on the back of his neck turning red from the sun. He wished he had remembered his hat.  
  
After awhile Stanley heard Zigzag yell "Incoming water truck!" Stanley's head snapped up, causing wave after wave of vertigo to come upon him. But he didn't care.  
  
Oh god. Please, please can it not be Mr. Sir driving. It barely ever was, but Stanley hoped on his life that it wasn't Mr. Sir. If it was, and he had been drinking again, he was done for.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Author's Note: Erm. Yeah.  
  
By the way, I made up the bit about how Squid and Zigzag got their names. * shrugs * It seemed right to me. I don't know how they really did, sorry.  
  
And I kinda screwed with the healing thingy for Stanley. If he seems better, it won't last. I just figure that after sleeping for a long time he'd be a bit better. Plus, I had to mess with reality a bit for the plot line. Don't worry, (probably not the right word...) He will go back to being almost-dead soon!  
  
I don't think that comforted anyone.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! IT WILL MAKE ME REALLY HAPPY AND WILL HELP ME GET THE NEXT CHAPTER OUT FASTER!!!!!! PLLLLLLEEEEAAAASEEEEEE!!!!!!!  
  
I think I'm begging.  
  
Spreading the Holes love,  
  
~Eh, Man 


	6. Avoiding the Investigation

Author's Note: Muah. I'm back to torture your favourite characters. Yay. Lol. ^_^  
  
What can I say about this chapter? Depressing, but they finally get official help from the 'authorities'. Sort of. Well, you'll see. More blood, more gore. Not for the weak of heart. More Stanley torture. More D Tent goodness.  
  
I'll try to get another one up real soon. Ok? Ok.  
  
Review at the end of the chapter! Or, what the hell. Review now, too. Just review, that's the main thing. ^_^  
  
Keep spreading the Holes love, the Holes Posse. You know who you are. Or maybe you don't. I don't really know. Lol.  
  
You know what? I met a guy named Ziggy in real life, and burst out laughing every time someone said his name. My mom thought I'd gone insane. He played on my brother's basketball team and it was fun to yell "Yeah Zig!". What? It was! ^___^  
  
Oh, and the reasons for their nicknames, among other things, aren't correct according to Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake simply because at the time when I wrote the last chapter I had yet to read the Guide.  
  
My lovely reviewers, you made me SOO happy. You don't know the epitome of happiness until you've received a good review. Each one I read about four times. You guys rock.  
  
And now to answer my reviews:  
  
Celestra: Hey! Yeah, Stanley is a LITTLE dizzy, to say the least. Heh, I'm so sad, I was dizzy the other day and tried to put it into words for the purposes of my tragic writing. It's so pathetic. Actually, yeah, I didn't have the Guide when I wrote it so just took a wild guess. I had no idea what I was going to say for why Squid got his nickname, so I got to that part and was like, oh crap, what I'm I going to say now? Lol. Aw! It's okay! Yay, good sploosh! ^__^  
  
Burnin': Wowie. Lots and lots and lots of reviewses. Aw, Stanley I'm sorry! -_- Makes me feel all awful seeing you twitching on the ground like that. -_-; Hey, you told off all my imaginary friends! Mental Mole, random person...Okay, so random person wasn't really my friend. Just an annoying random person. O_o But I liked my mental mole...*sniff* I think you spell good, Zero! *huggles Zero* yay! Wiseness! And Burnin', you rock. You review, so you rock. ^_^ Maybe I should say you burn, what with you being a pyro with Ziggy and all. Just add water! *falls over laughing * Hehehe... *huggles Stanley* Sorry hun. And yeah, you should probably remember Zero that that stuff hurts you. Remember those evil stomachaches on the mountain? Those were from the Sploosh. That sure as hell is gunna smart. *shakes head * Poor, poor Stanley. Oh wait, it's me who doing it to him isn't it? Whoops. Sorrry, Stanley. -_- "Spell Duh". Man, that is AWESOME Zero! ^_^ Alright, The other readers are getting restless, see ya!  
  
Eldalie Lavinia: I always have trouble typing your name! I'm glad I made you happy! Oh wait, now your sad. -_-. Have mood swing much? ^_~ lol. Uhm, I don't know if that will work. Did it? I don't really know. Lets just say yes, yes it did. ^_^ Thank you for reviewing! Inspector Gadget...lol, I used to watch that when I was little, hhehhheh. Really? You have it printed out? Eek, how much paper did it use? Ack, lol. Why were you lying on the kitchen floor? My advice is to go get some sleep, dear. You'd better go now, parents have that evil tendency to take away computer capabilities!  
  
Sixstars: Yupp, if nothing else, I'm creative. Lol. Allright, thanks dude! ^_^  
  
Drowchild: Yeah, I thought about that, but then figured that I was right all along. One of the major rules at Camp Greelake is, don't ask questions. So everybody ignored the blood. The only people who would ask would be the people in his tent, who already knew. Also, they probably though he got /very/ slammed in the tent door. (lol, I don't know if you've read the Guide or not, which means whether you get that) Thanks!  
  
Squid: Thanks a bunch!  
  
Obsessed Elijah Fan: Thank you! Poor Stanley is right. *shakes head sadly *  
  
Wheeler Chick: Hey Aly! That girl had problems. Seriously. I SO envy you!! *sobs * I want the DVD so very badly, but it doesn't come out until September! *cries some more * I love the D Tent boys too! They rock! But you already know that. Lol. Hey, good idea! *pokes Stanley with Aly * Live! LIVE! Heheh. Poor Stanley! Ack! Erm, yeeeah. Don't worry, Stanley. Aly....will...uh.....save you. O_o heheh. The Sun is my favourite Maroon 5 song! It's great! Thank you for suggesting it to me! ^_^ Thanks for the review!  
  
Ziggy the Paranoid Pyro: Well, I guess you could take a shower and that would get rid of the blood. I'm glad you like how I write about Ziggy, I love him. ^_^ Thanks!  
  
Estelle Yavetil: Thank you!  
  
Person: Thanks for the review!  
  
Ziggy: I'm glad you liked how Ziggy got his name, lol. ^_^ Thanks.  
  
Rattler: Aw, thanks! I know X-Ray told Stanley he got his name from Pig Latin, but thanks for the lesson anyway! ^_^ I just figured that since X- Ray said his vision wasn't that great and he didn't really have x-ray vision to Stanley, he didn't necessarily say it to the rest of the Tent. So when Stanley was talking to the whole table, he used the more common reason. Make sense? Heh, writingly challenged, I like that one. Thanks for the review!  
  
Incubus4lotr11: Hiya! Aww, poor Pitty! Yeah, I felt bad for him. Did I review and tell you how awesome it was that he met Jose? I hope I did, I meant to. It was great! I loved it! Thank you!  
  
Juice: I think he'll just have to be bandana-less, the poor soul. ^_~ Thanks!  
  
Vi: Okay, I have to tell you that your review meant so much to me! I couldn't believe it that someone liked my story that much. Again, like I told Eldalie, it must have used a lot of paper! Eek! Lol. Erm, okay. I don't speak Spanish, I speak only a little French because I'm Canadian. So I tried to find the closest thing to 'I'm sorry' and 'Siento lo que hice' is the closest I could find and it means 'I feel for what I did'. Basically, Magnet was just saying he was sorry. Eep, I hope I didn't confuse to many people! Yes, Ziggy has goodness! ^_^ Lol, that's okay. I worry about fictional characters too! I wouldn't want your fanfic world to come crashing down on you! A quote I like is "All the good males are either involved, gay or fictional characters." Lol. Don't worry; we all like the fictional guys! Thanks!  
  
And now on to the fic, enjoy!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two brown boots stepped out of the truck, crunching down onto the hard lake bottom. A small cloud of dust and dirt formed a small aura around the shoes, blown up by a non-existant wind.  
  
"Hey Mom." X-Ray said to Mr. Pendanski as he stood at the front of the line for water.  
  
"Hello, Rex." Mr. Pendanski replied brightly, and then turned his head from left to right as he frowned. "Where are Zero and Stanley?"  
  
X-Ray glanced behind him, and then turned back to Pendanski. He shrugged.  
  
"They'll come when they want to." X-Ray said vaguely.  
  
Pendanski nodded, and filled X-Ray's canteen.  
  
Stanley was weak with relief. Although, as he told himself rather comically, he was weak anyway. Heck, he was weak even before he got gutted with a shovel. Before he came to Camp Greenlake, even. He had always been pretty pathetic.  
  
"Stanley. Come on, the water truck's here." Zero urged. He grabbed Stanley's arm and tugged upwards, trying to pull him to his feet.  
  
"Yeah. I'm coming." Stanley murmured. The world was spinning and a sharp, throbbing pain was coming from his abdomen. His wound hurt now more then it did after he first got it, which as far as Stanley was concerned, wasn't good. He knew he must be bleeding to death because he had the evidence all over him.  
  
Somehow, with Zero's help, Stanley managed to get on his feet. But when he was up, his knees almost buckled. Arms caught him from behind. The Hispanic skin tone gave his rescuer away.  
  
"You okay now?" Magnet asked, supporting Stanley with his arm.  
  
"Yeah," Stanley said breathlessly. "Thanks, man."  
  
"Don't mention it," Magnet said with a sideways grin. He helped Stanley over to his place in line.  
  
"You'll be alright if I let you go, si?" He asked, glancing back at his hole. Stanley nodded, and Magnet gave him a pat on the back as he left and went back to his hole.  
  
Stanley ignored the slowly turning world, and concentrating on the water truck in front of him, tried to bring Mr. Pendanski into focus. Also not throwing up on Pendanski would be good, too.  
  
"Hurry up, Stanley. Hand me your canteen."  
  
Stanley couldn't figure out why Pendanski sounded so annoyed. Then he remembered the order of the line up for the water truck. X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Zigzag, Magnet, him and then Zero. Magnet was just one in front of Stanley. Pendanski must have been waiting for him to get over here from his hole. So that's why he was so annoyed.  
  
"How's the hole coming?" Pendanski asked as he filled Stanley's canteen.  
  
Stanley shrugged one shoulder and tried to see through the blurry haze that was his vision. Mr. Pendanski suddenly shoved the canteen into the unsuspecting Stanley's arms, and Stanley choked as it jolted his abdomen.  
  
He willed his body to stay upright, for the pain that was ravaging his body to go away. For his mind to stop feeling like it was full of cobwebs, and the sick, weak feeling to leave his limbs.  
  
He stumbled forwards, forcing his broken and beaten body back to his hole. Or where his hole was supposed to be, anyway. Arriving at the stop, his body collapsed into the dirt. He clutched his knees to his chest and rocked back in forth in agony.  
  
"Ahh." He groaned. "Ah."  
  
His head pounded from the sun. Overall he felt like crap, and that was putting it mildly.  
  
The sounds of a shovel being shoved into the hard earth right in front of him made him raise his head. Squid was digging Stanley's hole.  
  
"Don't do that," Stanley said quickly, his shock briefly cutting through his pain. Squid stopped digging.  
  
"What, you gunna dig your own hole, Caveman? Hate to break it to you, but you can't even stand up."  
  
"But you have to dig your own hole." Stanley objected weakly.  
  
"I know." Squid said as he continued digging. "each of the guys are going to dig a foot, except for Zero. Zero dug your hole yesterday."  
  
Stanley watched, guilty, as first Squid, then Magnet, Zigzag, Armpit and X-Ray dug a foot of his hole. After Zero spat in his hole, he came and sat beside Stanley. First he said nothing, then turned to Stanley.  
  
"X-Ray is digging the most."  
  
"What?" Stanley asked, his arm wrapped around his stomach.  
  
"The hole. Squid dug a foot down and across, but had to dig a little more to get the dirt out. Same with Magnet, but he had even more extra dirt. X-Ray is digging the most."  
  
Stanley stared at him, then started to laugh. Suddenly, his laugh turned to a cry of pain and both his arms clutched his stomach. His face turned even more pale, and he lay his head down on his knees as he shook in pain. An agonized groan escaped his lips.  
  
"Mom!" X-Ray yelled, who had been digging the final foot of Stanley's hole. The other boys were all just finishing up. D Tent crowded around Stanley.  
  
"It's okay Caveman, Mom was coming with water anyway. We're going to get him to do something." Zigzag said quietly to Stanley, glancing up at X- Ray who nodded.  
  
Zero grabbed one of Stanley's rust coloured and shaking hands.  
  
"Spell brown." He whispered to Stanley. "Spell brown."  
  
"B-b...r....o...-Ahh!" He cried. Stanley continued to spell out the word through his pain. "W-w...n!" He finished quickly as his eyes screwed shut against another wave of pain.  
  
"Ahh!"  
  
"Mom, you gotta do something. Take him to the Warden." X-Ray said urgently to Pendanski. Pendanski scratched his head.  
  
"I don't know, Rex..."  
  
"I do!" X-Ray insisted. "She wants us to be able to dig holes, not dead!"  
  
"Alright. Get him in the car." Pendanski sighed, as if this was a major favour he was doing.  
  
"Pit, pick him up!" X-Ray said, coming back to the group of boys. Armpit looked up at him, and then nodded.  
  
"Sorry, Caveman." Armpit muttered as he reached down and picked up Stanley. Stanley yelled out in pain, and grabbed onto a fistful of Armpit's orange jumpsuit.  
  
Zero watched the truck drive away trailing a cloud of dust and dirt. He put the shovel up on the back of his neck, and followed the water truck back to camp.  
  
"Think Caveman'll live?" Magnet asked, leaning on his shovel. "That kid gotta be okay."  
  
X-Ray stared after the cloud of dirt in the distance. "Depends on what the 'authorities' do."  
  
"Well, that's a comforting thought. Nothing like having the life of your friend in the hands of a couple of fuckin' bastards." Squid muttered, spitting into his dirt pile.  
  
"What are they playing at, anyway? It was Mr. Sir who hurt him in the first place." Zigzag said angrily as he dug.  
  
Armpit stared at the blood covering the front of his orange jumpsuit. "They'd better do something soon.  
  
****************  
  
"MRS. WALKER!"  
  
The door to the Warden's cabin swung open with a soft screech and a tall woman pulled a cowboy hat low over her eyes. She took a few steps out onto the porch and let the door swing shut, a long loose braid of red hair coming to rest on her right shoulder.  
  
"What the hell you going on about?" She said roughly to the small councillor in front of her.  
  
"Uh, Stanley Yelnats -Caveman- is bleeding to death." Pendanski stuttered.  
  
Fires burned in the depths of the Warden's eyes behind her dark glasses. She took a few steps down the porch steps, her tall brown boots making hollow sounds on the old wood.  
  
"Excuse me?" She asked, raising a perfectly manicured hand and lowering her glasses.  
  
"Er...Stanley Yelnats, Ma'am." Pendanski murmured, taking a step backwards. "He's...dying."  
  
"Well, you'll just have to do something about that, won't you?" The Warden said calmly, staring at the councillor.  
  
"Me?...yes-....but-"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I mean, yes Ma'am." He said quickly.  
  
"I thought you did." She said; she took another steps towards him. "How did it happen?"  
  
"The boy's wound?" Pendanski stammered, "Fighting, I expect."  
  
"He's bleeding to death, from a fight." The Warden repeated, staring down at Pendaski.  
  
"Well, they were on the lake, they had shovels I expect."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"They had shovels Ma'am. They were digging, Stanley turned up there yesterday morning."  
  
"Why did he turn up?" She asked quietly. "Where was he?"  
  
"Turned up with blood all down his front- I mean-"  
  
The Warden raised her eyebrows, and took a step closer, running a red- painted fingernail down the side of Mr. Pendanski's cheek.  
  
"Fighting, was he. And yet he turned up bloody." She whispered.  
  
"I...er..."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Fine-he-was-hit-by-Sir-who-was-drunk-with-a-shovel-two-days-ago- supposedly-for-using-a-short-shovel-but-really-he-just-covered-up-for-one- of-the-other-boys-" Pendanski suddenly said very quickly in one breath.  
  
"EXCUSE ME?!?"  
  
Mr. Pendanski clamped his hand over his mouth, his eyes opening wide in shock. He stumbled a few steps back, almost loosing his footing and falling.  
  
"I...I..."  
  
The Warden turned and yelled into the camp at the top of her lungs. "SIR!"  
  
Mr. Sir stumbled out of his office, the door swinging noisily shut behind him as he fumbled to keep his cowboy hat on in his attempt to walk quickly across the camp without looking scared.  
  
One of the boys in an orange jumpsuit laughed at Mr. Sir, and he yelled something at them containing some creative swearing and the term 'girl scouts'.  
  
Mr. Sir reached the Warden's cabin, where she was standing impatiently; red nails tapping on her hip. He nervously glanced around before waiting for her to talk.  
  
"Come with me." She said sweetly, walking purposefully towards Mr. Sir's cabin.  
  
Pendanski and Sir looked at each other before following quickly after her. She entered Mr. Sir's office, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He paused outside the door, and she turned around with raised eyebrows.  
  
"Come with me." She repeated in that false sweet voice.  
  
Mr. Sir tugged at his collar, and followed Pendanski into his cabin.  
  
The Warden gazed around Mr. Sir's office, and walked over to the wall across from his desk. There was a large rust-coloured stain running down the wall and onto the floor. She looked over her shoulder, at a red handprint on the door. Again with the threatening calm, she walked over to the small fridge and pulled it open.  
  
Over a dozen bottles of beer sat on the chilled levels of the refrigerator.  
  
Mr. Sir was pale and shaking, sweat running down the side of his face. He wiped his arm across his forehead, staring at the Warden with fear plain in his eyes.  
  
"Come here." She motioned foreword with a painted nail glinting a warning in the light from the windows. An eerie smile graced her features, but anger was bubbling beneath the surface threatening to break through.  
  
Mr. Sir took a few steps foreword as Mr. Pendanski gulped. As quick and effortless as a rattlesnake, the Warden had the front of Mr. Sir's shirt in her hand. With the finger of her other hand she ran the dark red nail down the side of his face. His cowboy hat fell to the floor.  
  
Suddenly, she shoved him towards the door, but never let go of her grip on the front of his shirt. She pushed him out the door, and into the sunlight. The Warden forced Mr. Sir's hatless head towards the sign.  
  
The sign read 'You Are Entering Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility. It is a Violation of the Texas Penal Code to Bring Guns, Explosives, Weapons, Drugs, or Alcohol onto the Premises.'  
  
"Can you read?" The Warden asked calmly, keeping a firm grip on the front of his shirt but studying the nails of her right hand with mild interest.  
  
"Yes, Ma'am." Mr. Sir grunted.  
  
"Then shut the hell up." The Warden sliced her nail into the flesh of his neck, making a small cut. Mr. Sir screamed.  
  
"I thought I told you to be quiet."  
  
"Euhh.."  
  
"I thought so. Pendanski." The Warden said, letting go of Mr. Sir as he fell to the ground clutching his neck.  
  
"Yes Ma'am?" Mr. Pendanski said nervously.  
  
"Don't let the kid die. Do whatever you have to do, but DO NOT LET HIM DIE." The Warden said, putting her dark glasses back on. "He has family, there'll be an investigation if he dies."  
  
"Yes...Ma'am." Mr. Pendanski said as the Warden slammed her door shut behind her, leaving him with a crowd of boys in the middle of camp. "Move along, nothing to see here!" He said brightly, as he gave Mr. Sir a nudge with his foot to see if he was still conscious. Mumbled curses met his ears telling him that the councillor was still alive.  
  
"Bitch." He grunted.  
  
Pendanski nodded, and scratched his head. He would have to do research on the internet and see what he could do about gaping wounds and blood loss. He might have to do suturing.  
  
"Damn." Pendanski muttered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Author's Note: Ahem. Yeah. Review? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?  
  
May the shovel be with you.  
  
Your writingful authoress,  
  
~Man 


	7. To Defy the Lizards

Author's Notes:  Hi again.  'tis me.  *Trumpets sound, confetti falls from the ski, angels sing, crowd cheers, ect.*   

First, let me explain a little about when this story takes place.  I think I've already said that it's after Zero's reading lessons start, but a little before Zigzag's birthday (the whole 'lemme dig your hole' business and Zero's running away.)  What this story basically represents is the friendship built between Stanley and the rest of D-Tent, especially Zero.  You need to have to be really close with someone to run into the desert after them with no food or water.  

I'm not saying this is slash, it's not meant to be but you are free to take it that way if you want. I know some of you probably already have.  I have nothing against slash, I just can't write it.  But what I'm trying to get across between Stanley and Zero is a brotherly relationship.  Some of the other boys too, like Zigzag or Squid.  (I think Squid looked genuinely happy when he hugged Stanley and Zero when they got back-I think they had a good friendship that the book and movie just didn't show.)  

Ahem.  Now that I've explained my reasoning behind the D-Tent bonding…….

Meet my new muse!  His name is………(ready for it?)………Zero!  Actually, he's known as lil' Zero, because he's only six years old.  Feel free to goggle at complete adorableness. 

Zero:  Hi!  *waves, clutching Jaffy in arm*

Oh yeah, he comes complete with lil' stuffed Giraffe.  Ain't he the cutest?  Ahem.  

Keep diggin' those holes, Posse.  

~*~Reviews~*~

Queen-Setaa/Remmy the Insane~  Dunno if he'll live………………lol.  Don't want to wreck the suspense!  You go free those cows.  ^_^

Celestra~  Aw!  You're not………..THAT……….lame.  *Silence*  Heheh, just kidding.  Power of Celestra commands me?  Well, alright then!  Lol.  

Sixstars~   Ooh, you don't want to be late for camp!  That'd be no fun, would it?  Thanks for the review!

Eldalie Lavina~  It IS about time.  There'll be more Pendanski in future chapters.  Don't expect –too- much help though……… Eep, twenty five pages.  Hope your parents don't mind you using their paper!  Heheh about you falling asleep on the kitchen floor, although you DO sound like you have a good excuse.  ^_^

Shae Elven Heart~  I want to know what happens to Stanleh, too!  Hell, Mr. Sir CAN eat booty for all I care, lol.  Thanks for the review!

Holeymoley~  Dig dig dig!  I do like your spelling!  ^_^  *hugs*  You're the cutest mole ever!

Burnin'~  Rip down all them ol' veils, Burnin'!  They were no good anywhay.  My fang shui man told me they were disrupting my 'chalkra'.  …………..^_~  Erm……sorry Torture Trio.  Wait, I'm not responsible for Harry, yay!  ^_^

Squid's Fan~  I THINK faze is a word.  Dun really know, though.  Hey, it's possible to like both Squid and Caveman!  Somehow!  I do!  Lol.  Thanks for the review.

Obsessed Elijah Fan~  Yeah, a real big hug probably wouldn't help his condition any, sorry.  I'll tell him you send your pity though!  ^_^

Ziggy~ I'm glad you're liking it!  n.n  I'm sorry I almost made you cry!  Thanks!

Vi~  Thank you so much! You don't know how much your support means to me!  Heh, I've been taking French for………*counts* four years.  Heh, well, at least you'll be able to talk to your dead ancestors!  (I don't know………)  Monkey-pox infected prairie dogs.  Interesting.  Can't say people do that and watch corn grow here.  Lol, good luck with that.  No, I guess it's not good when worlds come crashing down, generally.  O_o   I thought that book was dark and depressing, too.  -_-  Snazzy-ful………that is so true! Lol.  Here's an update!  Thanks for the review!

True-Slytherin-Gurl~  Thank you!

Incubus4lotr11~  I reviewed!  I'm sure I did.  Really.  Wait………I think I did.  Dammit, I review too many stories, it's getting hard to keep track!  Yes, I think Caveman grows on you.  Lol.  Thanks!

Chessy Cat~  Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer:  I do not own Holes.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Stanley lay shaking on his cot.  

            He closed his eyes and clenched his trembling hands into tight fists, but he was so weak that he couldn't keep them closed for long.  Hot red fire radiated from his abdomen, and spread waves of pain throughout his whole body.  Cold sweat ran down the side of his face, but he could feel his cheeks burning with fever.  His thoughts became more and more hazy; his mind that had once raced with thoughts and fears and feelings when he first got to Camp Greenlake now slowly comprehended like a computer that had a virus.  

            He wondered if he was dying.

            Was this what it felt like?  This feeling of having all his strength and energy sucked out of him and leaving him only as a shell of a body consumed in pain?  What about his parents?  Would they get evicted from their apartment, only to receive a letter in the mail telling them that their only son had died?  

            His breathing was slow and shallow, he tried to breathe in enough air, but he was left feeling light-headed and dizzy.  He became nervous, and then all out scared.  His chest clenched in fright, his shaking increasing.  He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe normally, but failed miserable leaving him trying desperately to breath.  His breaths came faster and faster, with no extra air being inhaled.  His body screamed for air, but he couldn't do it.  He cried out in panic and terror.  Stanley felt his mind shutting down as smothering darkness rushed towards him.  He was horrified, he didn't want to die, he couldn't.  The image of his mother and father crying with a crumpled up letter in their hands was imprinted on his brain.  

~~~~~~

            Zero walked through the empty camp, his canteen bumping against his chest and his shovel over his shoulder.  The camp was mostly empty, with all the boys still digging and the councillors either supervising them, or in the mess hall 'preparing' dinner.  Also know as opening tin cans and emptying the resulting goo into large serving basins.  

            Putting his shovel back in the 'library', Zero's head suddenly snapped up.  Zero dropped his shovel and ran to D-tent as fast as he could.  For some reason, he had suddenly had a feeling that Stanley needed help- fast.  Forcing the tent flap out of the way, Zero entered the tent, and immediately knew for certain that something was wrong.  His unexplainable intuition had been right.  

            Stanley lay on his cot; the fabric turning scarlet around him, with his eyes squeezed shut and hyperventilating.  Zero fell to his knees beside Stanley's cot and shook him slightly.

            "Stanley?"  

            Stanley's eyes opened, but they were filled with an almost hysterical panic.  

            "Stanley, relax man."  Zero said anxiously, he didn't know what to do.  He frantically glanced over his shoulder.

            "Help!  Somebody help!"  He yelled, hoping against hope that somebody would hear him.  Again he remembered the appearance of a deserted camp.  

            He grasped Stanley's hand and tried to figure out what to do.  He didn't know, how could he?  He'd grown up on the streets.  He watched in horror as Stanley took in breath after breath but seemed to not be able to actually inhale it.  He looked so scared.  

Suddenly, Zero remembered that once, when he had been ten, he had stood outside and electronics store and watched one of the TVs through the glass.  He had been so fascinated, having never had seen a television before.  The show that was playing was some kind of dramatic program that that was referred to during the commercials as a 'shampoo' or something like that.  In the episode that Zero saw, a girl with brown hair had started to breath really quickly because she was scared of moving.  First, the mother had tried to calm her down by having her control her breathing, and then made her breath through a paper bag.  

Well, they had no paper bags.  Back to the other method then.

"Come on, Stanley, you've got to calm down, okay?  You're going to be okay.  Breath slower, like this."  Zero demonstrated by breathing in and out slowly, like the girl on TV had done.

Stanley tried for two breaths, then gave a shuddering sort of breath and started to breathe even faster.  "Can't………breathe!"  He cried, his pale face growing even paler.  

Zero desperately tried to demonstrate the breathing again.  In and out, in and out.  Out of ideas, he put Stanley's hand on his chest to better show him how he thought that he was supposed to breath.  

Stanley stared up at him, but tried again to do the steady breathing.  Closing his eyes in concentration, he fought the way his brain was screaming 'more air!' at him.  He attempted to make his chest go in and out like Zero's was doing.  In and out, in and out.

Slowly, Stanley's breathing slowed down.  Gradually, he could breath in again, and the rushed, panicky feeling left his lungs and mind.  

"Thanks."  Stanley said finally, wincing against the pain the simple word caused his ravaged body.

"Don't mention it."  Zero said with his wide smile.  But his smile soon faltered as his friend's expression as the pain beat against his body.  

They were both silent for awhile, then Stanley suddenly spoke up.  

"Zero, am I going to die?"  

This question caught Zero unprepared and first he just stared at Stanley in shock.  Then his look of surprise softened as he realized that it was a very real possibility.     

"I won't let you die, neither will the other guys."  Zero said seriously, it was true; the boys had made an unspoken agreement not to let their newest member die.  D-Tent stuck together. 

"I don't want to die."  Stanley whispered, staring at the ceiling.  For the first time since Stanley had come to Camp Greenlake, Zero saw tears running down his cheeks.  "My mom and dad………it would kill them.  I couldn't stand causing them pain, I've done enough already by getting myself in trouble and sent to a detention camp."  More tears ran down his face.

            Guilt burned in the pit of Zero's stomach.  He had caused this, really, this was all his fault.  If only he hadn't stolen those shoes, none of this would have ever happened.

            Unable to think of anything else to do, Zero wrapped his arms around Stanley gently, careful not to cause him any more pain.

            "You're the best friend I've ever had, Stanley."  Zero said.  'The only one, too.'  A voice in his head said.  Zero got up from the floor and sat on the cot next to Stanley's.  They were silent again for awhile.  

            "Hey, Caveman!  How ya doin', man?"  Squid asked as he entered the tent.  Stanley gave a forced smile and shrugged one shoulder.  

            Squid gave him a thumbs up and went and laid down on his cot.  Soon Magnet came, followed by Zigzag, then X-Ray, then Armpit.  Each asked if he was alright, and each time Stanley raised and lowered one shoulder.  

            "Hey, you wanna come to the Wreck Room, Caveman?"  Magnet asked, after they had each collapsed onto their respective cots.  

            "Sure, why not."  Stanley murmured.  If he was going to be sitting somewhere in pain, it might as well be a room full of people.  He had had enough time to sit alone with his rather dark and depressing thoughts.  

            "Glad to see you so excited!"  Zigzag said brightly.  Everyone turned and stared at him.  "What?"  He asked.

            Several lumpy pillows were thrown at him.  

            "Oh god."  Armpit groaned.

            "You sounded like Mom, man!"  Magnet laughed.

            "I'll remember to be depressed next time."  Zigzag said rolling his eyes.  "Then I'll be doing JUST want the lizards want………" He added under his breath.

            "Oh shut up Zig."  Squid muttered.  He pushed himself off his cot and over to Stanley.  

            "Sorry."  Squid said in advance, then put Stanley's arm around his own neck and pulled him up.  Stanley bit his lip against the pain so hard that it split and blood rushed into his mouth.  Great, just what he needed.  More blood.  Wahoo.  

            Slowly, D-Tent made it's way to the Wreck Room.  As they passed through the tents and cabins, boys and councillors stopped and stare at the little group.  X-Ray walked in front, as if to challenge any that stood in their way.  Following him was Zigzag and Zero, who were standing a protectively in front of Squid and Stanley.  Squid was supporting Stanley with an arm around his waist, and Stanley's head slightly drooped from weakness.  Bringing up the rear was Armpit and Magnet, completing the 'formation' that D-Tent had automatically and unconsciously taken.  D-Tent stuck together.  

            X-Ray opened the door, and about twenty-five pairs of eyes turned and stared at them.  Squid leaned over a bit, and whispered "Do you think you can walk to that chair from here?" in Stanley's ear.  

            Squid knew that Stanley hated looking like he needed help, and Squid knew he himself wouldn't either.  Stanley took a deep shuddering breath and nodded.  All the eyes stared as Stanley forced his head up and walked steadily across the floor, the six boys following him.  Seeing everything was as usual, the boys all turned back to what they had been doing. 

            Stanley was focused on the chair; it was his goal.  Just a bit farther, a few more aching steps causing waves of agony.  A few more steps on legs that were on the verge of buckling, and a body that was weak from blood loss.  Almost there.  Just a few more steps.  Stanley allowed himself to close his eyes and take a shaking breath, when something-someONE slammed into him.  

            The shove would have been hard on anyone, full force put into deliberate contact.  But for Stanley, bleeding to death and with a gash in his stomach, it was like running full speed into a brick wall.  

            He fell backwards onto the ground, hard.  The wooden floor hit his head and he saw nothing but blackness for a second, but then he was looking up at his attacker.  Thlump.  

            "What, not so tough now, eh Caveman?"  He leered.  And punched Stanley in the stomach.  

~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:  Muahahahhhahahahahahaha.  Please don't hurt me.  *huggles Zero for protection*

Say it now, Zero.  

Zero:  Pwease Review.  

Thank you!  ^__^  You heard the dude, review!  Please?  The chapter will come out faster, I swear!  You have no idea how much a good review makes you want to write.  Or, if you are an author too, maybe you do!  ^_~

Your writingful authoress,

  
~Eh, Man


	8. What Matters

Author's Notes: Ahhh! I exist! Really! Okay, sorry for the -major- delay. I'm so freaking busy right now it's not even remotely funny.  
  
Okay, so maybe remotely.  
  
Anyway, I want to get this posted, so the A/Ns are going to be really quick, and I'll do all the review-answering for this chapter in the next one, okay? Sorry, I just really want to get this posted. Hope you don't mind the wait for the responses!  
  
Dislclaimer: I don't own Holes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Squid's eyes widened as Thlump pushed Stanley to the ground and started beating him mercilessly. He was stunned into not being able to move. A million things rushed through Squid's head. He should never have let him go along. Never let him keep his pride at the sake of his physical well being. Never should have let Tlump within five feet of him. And the main thought running through Squids head was: He had to get the jerk off Caveman.  
  
Squid lunged and took a flying leap across the Wreck Room and tackled Thlump to the ground. Squid reached back and slammed his fist across the bigger boy's face again and again.  
  
"SQUID! We need your help over here, man!" X-Ray yelled.  
  
Squid looked up and saw the rest of D-Tent kneeling around Stanley. He looked down and saw Thlump had passed out. Getting up off the unconscious boy, Squid fell to his knees next to X-Ray.  
  
As soon as he saw Stanley, Squid cursed under his breath. His head snapped up, and he yelled for Zigzag to go get Mom.  
  
Zigzag looked up at him, worry in his eyes. The same kind of worry Squid had seen when they had all been in a similar state and position. When Barf Bag had been bitten by a rattle snake. They had all silently wondered if the member of D-Tent was going to die.  
  
They wondered the same thing now.  
  
"What can Mom do?" Armpit asked. "You saw him, he ain't helpin'."  
  
"Well, somebody has too, we can't just leave him here!" Magnet argued.  
  
Zigzag was looking intently at Squid, his face pale.  
  
"Dammit, Zig, just go get him." Squid grunted, and looked down once more at Stanley.  
  
Stanley's hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. His eye's were closed, and his forehead was smooth of the pain and worry lines that were there when he was awake lately. A thin line of blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth. He was very pale, the whiteness only marked by dirt and smudges of dark red blood. His breathing was slow and shallow, his chest barely moving up and down as he inhaled and exhaled. But what drew most eyes to the teen, was the gash in his abdomen.  
  
About eight inches wide, the long cut was just above his belly button. Blood streamed out from the deep cut to pool around him on the floor. The cut was obviously infected, Squid's bandana having had falling off when he was first pushed down, dirt and dust had gotten in the wound. Squid wouldn't have been surprised if it was infected.  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
Squid's inspection, and pressure on the wound was cut short when Pendanski's hard words came from the door. Soon the councillor had literally ran over to where D-Tent was crowded around one of its members. Zigzag jogged behind him.  
  
After a careful observation, and paling on Pendanski's part, the father-figure to the tent finally caught his voice again after murmuring silent obscenities under his breath.  
  
"A-Armpit, take him back to the tent. I'll be there in a minute, I just have to get some...supplies."  
  
Armpit nodded, and reaching down, gently lifted Stanley up. His dark skin make a startling contrast to the pale whiteness of Stanley's skin. D- Tent quickly filed out on the Wreck Room, towards their tent, and the rest of the tents watched silently as they left. There was no noise, until everyone was sure they were gone. Then hushed mutterings broke out, but were unheard to the offending ears.  
  
Pendanski sprinted back to the Warden's cabin. His hat fell to the back of his neck, but was held on his shoulders by the string hanging under his chin. He didn't replace it. He knocked frantically on the door, her last words ringing in his ears. 'Do not let him die.'  
  
The door swung open, revealing the Warden standing there in a white undershirt, her red curls flying around her head like a dark halo. She leaned against the side of the doorframe and shielded her eyes against the harsh brightness of the sun.  
  
"What do YOU want?" She snapped, inspecting her nails, just in case.  
  
Pendanski fiddled nervously with the frayed hem of his plaid shirt. He unconsciously tapped his foot, and the Warden's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Pendanski..." Her voice rang in his ears with warning.  
  
"Uh, well, it's like this Ma'am..."  
  
Her eyes narrowed even more.  
  
"Spit it out. Now."  
  
"Stanely'sgottenbeatupbyEric-Thlump,Btent- andisnowinverybadcondition." He said this all very quickly, in the time it would take a normal person to say the boy's name. Pendanski winced, automatically curling his shoulders and knees inwards in a defensive posture. He knew what was coming.  
  
"EXCUSE ME?!?"  
  
The Warden grasped the front of Pendanski's shirt, and yanked him cruelly inside her cabin. Slamming the door shut, she pressed the little man up against it so his head banged the wooden planks of the entrance. His hat dug into his back uncomfortably, causing him to have his back arched against the wall, pressed on the hat.  
  
"You go...fix him." She whispered, her face so close to his that miniscule drops of spittle landed on his overly-sunblocked nose. "I don't care what you do, but MAKE-SURE-HE-GETS-BETTER!"  
  
"Yes'mm." He murmured so quickly he bit his tongue in the process.  
  
The door suddenly opened, and Pendanski fell backwards with his momentum off the porch and down the steps. A roll of thread with a needle stuck into it bounced against his head.  
  
**************  
  
Back in D-Tent, Squid had his hand on Stanley's forehead.  
  
X-Ray glanced up at Squid's eyes, and Squid shook his head. "Dude, you're burnin' up!" He crouched down next to Stanley and used his pocket knife to cut off Stanley's orange jumpsuit down to his waist. It was messed up enough anyway that it didn't matter, what with the large cut on the stomach.  
  
"Now what?" Magnet blurted out, before he could stop himself. He ran a hand through his hair, eyes darting from one member of Dtent to another.  
  
Stanley lay on his cot, eyes staring at the canvas above him, and own hands pressed to his wound. Zero sat next to him, and offered what comfort he could. The rest were scattered around Stanley, some crouching, some standing. All with worried looks on their faces.  
  
Stanley's eyes started to droop, but Squid immediately leaped to attention.  
  
"No! Don't sleep, man. That's not good, 'specially since you got a concussion, probably. You sleep now, it's likely you 'ain't ever going to wake up.  
  
Stanley's next words surprised them all, more then the fact that he could even talk at all.  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
Zero's eyes widened. He suddenly broke into a quick, but halting speech that startled most of the rest of the tent.  
  
"Of course it matters! YOU matter! What about your parents? Don't you still write to your mother? Doesn't she write back? And your dad? Where would they be without you? They could barely stand for you to be sent here! If they found out you weren't coming back- they, they, they wouldn't be able to stand it! And what about us? You're the only friend I've ever had! You matter to all of us here, you're like a brother now." Zero said, his quiet voice picking up and dropping in velocity as he spoke.  
  
"Yeah man, don't think like that. Of course you're gunna come outa this okay!" Zigzag added, braking the sudden silence that had followed Zero.  
  
Stanley nodded, but his eyelids started to fall again. He was tired...so tired. Couldn't they leave him alone? For five minutes, at least?  
  
"Quick, someone talk!" Squid shouted. Everyone looked at each other, not able of anything to say. They all looked back at Squid, defeated.  
  
"Fine, I'll decide...X-Ray, how'd you get sent here?" Squid said urgently, aware of how X-ray's eyes widened in shock.  
  
No one had ever asked him that, in all the time he'd been at Camp Green Lake. X-Ray asked them, but they'd never, ever asked him. But he found the awkwardness of the subject he'd first experienced after he'd first been awarded his sentence had dimmed. He actually didn't mind telling his 'brothers' how he got here in the first place.  
  
"I sold drugs."  
  
This got everyone's attention. Even Stanley looked more alert. Squid raised his eyebrows, and then grinned at X-Ray. He knew there would be more to the story then just that. Armpit crossed his arms and waited, his face slightly amused. Zigzag's eyes were wide and staring. Magnet had his head propped on his arm, but looked interested. Zero's eyes flickered up to X-Ray, but soon returned to watching Stanley for fear he would suddenly cease to exist, or the like.  
  
"Well, not really, or else I'd be in a much worse place then this. Lets just say I sold my customers what they thought was cocaine." The edge of his mouth quirked up into a smile. "Actually, it was smashed-up mild painkillers, like advil. But they couldn't tell the difference. Burned on the way up, and gave them a 'quick fix'. Actually, it did practically nothing. But they thought it did. Anyway, I sold bags of the stuff to a few guys. Was a way of getting a little extra money. Besides, if they didn't get it from me, they would have gotten it from someone else, right?" There were a few scattered nods. "So, my life went on. Fairly well, I might add, with a bit more pocket cash, until some idiot told the cops on me. I was arrested on the charges of selling cocaine, until they were smart enough to figure out it was just bags of advil. They felt stupid at having arrested me, and probably wanted to tell their superiors they caught some big 'drug-supplier', but told the judge I was arrested for selling the painkillers without a pharmaceutical licence. Apparently that's illegal. I mean, who knew, right?"  
  
More scattered nods. "Right," He finished.  
  
Suddenly, they were interrupted by a shout from Zero.  
  
"He's not breathing!"  
  
***********  
  
Author's Notes: Ack! Another cliffy! I'm so sorry! Oh well, bare with me, I'll get another chapter up soon, I'm slowly getting used to my hectic lifestyle.  
  
The key word in that statement was hectic.  
  
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!  
  
I swear it will get the chapter out faster! I'm not kidding, seriously, it will. Motivation people, it's what drives us author-like peoples.  
  
Okay, well, I've got to go see what's happenin' with da Posse..... So later!  
  
Your fairly frantic authoress,  
  
~Eh, Man  
  
[SHOUTOUTS TO THE HOLES POSSE: Lani- You're my hero. I dunno why, ya just are. Live with it. Luv ya hun! Shyz: You're my OC buddeh! Lol! YEAH ADAM! Lol. A fork? What, like RA? Hahahah. Metzy: Hiya hun, did I tell you how much I missed you when you were grounded? Your such a major part of the Posse! Like, an original! ^_^ Heather: Yo, get your butt over to the Posse Board, hunnie! Aly: Ya too! Go! Now! Why am I telling you to go to your own board? Lol, oh well. Sorry Wheeler. Relina: Oy vay. Our youngest and wisest member! *bows* Go you! Hahhaha. Alexa: Helloooo! Greetings from ahoy! Mango: Don't worry, I didn't forget ya! ^_^ You're my favourite fruit, hahaha. GCFreak: Er, I forget your name! A million apologies, madam! Hello from the other side! Shea: Hello my sploosh obsessed friend? How be things? .....And most of all, Insane Guest Scaring Hugging Holes Posse Members, how be the poodles?] 


	9. The Inevitable

Author's Notes: Yupp, I'm back again! ^_^ * lil' Zero waves happily from his place sitting comfortably on Eh, Man's lap and sucking his thumb while still managing to hold on to Jaffy*  
  
Now, I know you're all anxious for this chapter, what with the state in how I last left our poor friend Stanley. So I'll get right on to answering my lovely reviews!  
  
122 reviews?!? Somehow, I feel guilty! ^_^ Thanks, you guys, I might've stopped this story a long time ago and moved on to new 'meat' if it wasn't for your wonderful support!  
  
Okay, I have a lot of reviews to answer, since I procrastinated on the last chapter! So this counts as for chapter seven and eight.  
  
~~~  
  
Eldalie Lavinia: *joins in poking Thlump * Ohh, I hope I don't get you in trouble with your mom, those five sheets each time can stack up! Yes, Zero's hair is VERY soft. *falls asleep in lil' Zero's hair, and he doesn't notice, until her muses Kate and Lynne run out of the Outsiders section and wake her up to finish the chapter* Oh! Sorry about that!! ^_~ And for the record, YES, hectic lives DO suck. Muchly. Eeep. Talk about putting stress on a paperclip...^_~  
  
Queen Seta/Remmy the Insane: Go free those cows! ^_^ ...And Chickens! O_o  
  
Metza: Hey hunnie! Wowie, you read it! ^_^ Go you!  
  
Sixstars: Mmmm. Trust me, the one think Stanley defiantly doesn't need right now is more blood. Unless it's a transfusion. Which he needs very badly. ^_~ Here's your update!  
  
Shae Elven Heart: Er. *confiscates shovel* Not that I want to spar Mr. Sir or anything, but you know, the 'riding the general population of unneeded violence' thing...  
  
Celestra: I think this deserves one good "I TOLD YOU SO!". Ahem. Ah thank you! Lol. *hugs her lil' Zero*  
  
Burnin': You know, you COULD just go watch the music video on the official website, it's there, I think. Heh. Don't get in trouble using the library computer to write me long reviews! ^_^ Yes, I think you write VERY well, Zero! Now, you just shut up there Stan my Man! Dilirium? Hmmm, I think you just gave me inspiration for the next chapter....Thank you! ^____^ I think medical attention is what he needs, but there isn't exactly a lot of that and Camp Greenlake, so..Uhm. Sorry. O_o Yeah, I always thought of there being a sorta like link between Zero and Stanley, like brothers, ya know? Hahaha, don't feel guilty! In the long run, at least you reviewed! ^_^ Slightly delayed, but you did in the end! I don't mind, I'm just happy you did! *banishes guilt-beings* Muah. The power vested in me...Wait, isn't that what the priest dude says when he marrys someone? Gagh. Scary thought. Yeah. Celestra did the CPR thing already. Poor Stanley, good thing you guys aren't in charge of his medical care!!! Er...Sorry? Sorry for making you cry, and sorry for, uh, being good? :S Apperantly. Lol. I'm confused. Don't worry, you weren't boring me, I enjoy your reviews! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *collapses to the ground and writhes around in searing agony with the occasional seizure as mental castle is overrun by chocolate chip snickerdoodles and D-Tent plushies* Gee, thanks. O_o No, seriously, thanks for the reveiew(S)! ^_____^  
  
Karbon14: I'm a stickler for canon. All my fics are as close as can be, and I detest Mary Sues. Thanks!  
  
Celestra: Do you know how much the CPR thing made me laugh? Haha. Uhm. Although, I think for future reference I should pass along to you some of the little medical knowledge I have. CPR is for when your heart stops. Mouth to mouth, aka rescue breathing is for when someone stops breathing. O_o I hope you never have to give first aid to me...lol. Well, you see, I did a first aid course thingmagiggy, and I can do CPR, Rescue Breathing, and the Heimlich Manoeuvre. Well, I think I do, anyway. I don't know, I've never tried them out in real life on anyone. Yes, *sigh* We've been through this. You're my hero. Deal with it.  
  
Artemis-Chan of Redwing: Yeah! We need all the new readers/reviewers we can get that stick to canon! Have fun in the 'wonderful' world of fanfiction!  
  
Twopigsforonedaughter: Nice screen name! Thanks so much! About your question, I thought I remembered Stanley saying the bus ride took six hours to get to Camp Green Lake. Zigzag was exaggerating. The fact they had a helicopter didn't even enter my mind. But even if it had, for the sake of the story, lets just say the helicopter broke down, okay? ^_~  
  
Shyz: Thanks hunnie! Yeah, *scratches head* Hmm, we should get around to that in about...three years? Lol. ^_~  
  
Karebear: Thank you! That's the point of the story, unprecedented circumstances bringing out the best characteristics, and the true nature of D-Tent.  
  
Griffenfox: Uhm. Sorry? O_o Here's the update!  
  
Tears of Blood From my Eyes: To tell the truth, your review actually spurred me on to update again. I was just unable to find the time, but after getting the shock of how truly long it had been, it helped me to get up off my butt and work at it! Thank you!  
  
Legofodopip: Thank you for reading and reviewing all the chapters! I know how hard it is to do sometimes, from being an avid reviewer myself, so I very much appreciate it! One thing though: I don't ever want to get on your bad side...  
  
Get_it_on65: I know. Seriously, I know. I'm quite amazed actually, that no one else brought it up. It IS amazing Stanley isn't dead yet. Yes, in all honest truth he should be dead. That's also why it's slightly AU though, because for the sake of this fiction, I wanted to see how far I could push the characters before they would give in, or how far they could go and still 'bounce back'. Don't worry, I've been paying attention. Trust me!  
  
~*~  
  
THE HOLES POSSE: You guys are awesome! Aly, Heather, Lani, Shyz, Relle, Alexa, Metza, Seny, Mango, Shea, Grab Bag, Hannah, and all you other newcomers I've forgotten, rock on you guys, rock on. Keep on spreading the Holes love, and do not forget the eternal question: "How be the poodles?"  
  
Alright, before I start the chapter (okay, I know you all are getting impatient, but bare with me here) I would just like to say how difficult this chapter was to write. Go easy on me, okay people? This story is slowly coming to a close, and I'm trying to tie up all the loose ends as best I can. The last thing I want for this story is for it to be dragged out past its prime.  
  
I hope you like it.  
  
Enjoy.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"He's not breathing!" Zero repeated, his eyes wide and full of desperate fear. Fear of death. Not for himself, but for his best friend. His voice rose as he whispered the sentence once more to himself, cracking near the end, then suddenly leaped up and desperately tried to shake Stanley.  
  
Squid cursed under his breath, and literally vaulted over the nearest cot, the rest of D-Tent close behind. He fell to his knees beside Stanley's cot, pushing Zero out of the way with little force. Zero moved aside willingly, his eyes caught staring vividly at his friend's deathly pale face.  
  
"Damn, damn, damn, damn..." Squid muttered to himself. He bent over, and put his ear to Stanley's mouth and nose, carefully watching his 'patient's' chest. It didn't move. Squid closed his eyes and listened carefully. No sound of breathing could he hear. He didn't feel any breath on his ear.  
  
Stanley wasn't breathing. Zero was right.  
  
"Damn, damn, damn, damn..."  
  
"Squiddily? He gunna be okay?" Zigzag asked nervously, his normally interesting appearance even more frazzled, giving him the look of a recently electrocuted teen.  
  
Armpit turned irately to Zigzag. "What do YOU think?" He asked, his normally calm temper blown by his own anxiousness. Zigzag turned to him, startled.  
  
"I, uh, don't know! Look at him! Does he look to you like he's going to make a sudden perfect recovery-" Zigzag stuttered.  
  
He was cut off as Armpit shoved him, the bigger boy's temper flaring as his hands shook.  
  
"Shut up! He's going to be fine, he's going to be okay..." Armpit said quickly. Zigzag shook his head, wide eyes filled with uncertainty.  
  
"Don't lie to yourself, Thee-o-dore!" He muttered anxiously. This time, Armpit pushed him harder. The lanky Zigzag tripped over a cot and fell against the harsh canvas of the tent, his limbs flailing.  
  
Suddenly, X-Ray was there, grabbing the front of Armpit's orange jumpsuit, staring up into the bigger boy's eyes.  
  
"Armpit! Don't-do-that-again! What the frik do you think your playing at?!? We already have one D-Tenter down, we don't need another one!" He released a sheepish but frantic looking Armpit, and reached down to give Zigzag a hand up. "Look, Armpit, we're all worried. Chill, man, okay? We got enough on our minds."  
  
Armpit nodded, and the three's gazes turned back to Stanley and Squid.  
  
Squid was worried. Okay, he was past worried. Far past worried. Scared. Stanley wasn't breathing. He needed to fix that, and quick. But he didn't know if he could. Hell, he'd never done rescue breathing before! In the corner of his mind he heard Armpit, Zigzag, and X-Ray yelling at each other, then them become quiet and turn to look at him. Back to the problem. He'd only taken a few first aid classes! He never thought he'd have to use some of the skills he learned...  
  
Suddenly, Squid realized what he had to do.  
  
"Magnet. Go get Mom. Now." Squid said abruptly.  
  
"No, I gotta stay here-"  
  
"DAMN IT MAGNET, JUST GO!"  
  
Magnet stared at him for a second, and then nodded his assent. "Si."  
  
He got up, and ran out the door.  
  
Squid took a deep breath, and looked at Stanley. He didn't have much time, Stanley's lips were turning blue, and his face was the colour of the sheets. In reality, Stanley had only not been breathing for just over a minute, but it seemed like hours for everyone present.  
  
Squid wiped his sweaty palms on the thighs of his orange jumpsuit, and tilted back Stanley's head to open his air passageway- it was supposed to make the person breath easier, but as far as Squid could tell it didn't help much if the person wasn't breathing at all. Oh yeah, he was competent.  
  
As far as Squid could tell, Stanley wasn't choking; he didn't think there was anything blocking his throat. Crap. Stanley didn't have much longer. He needed to hurry. The seconds were passing, feeling like minutes, even hours.  
  
But, hell, he really didn't want to go ahead with this. He ran a hand anxiously through his hair. Oh well, there was nothing for it. Stanley would DIE if Squid didn't do it, and Squid knew he would never forgive himself if Stanley died.  
  
No, he wasn't going to die.  
  
Exhaling shakily, Squid got up off his knees and leaned over Stanley. He glanced up, and saw D-Tent crowded around. Turning back to Stanley, he gave a humourless smile.  
  
"Sorry, man, I don't usually do this on a first date, but..." His lame attempt at humour was lost on his unconscious charge. Well, tough crowd. On with it! Stop stalling!  
  
Squid pinched Stanley's nose, and took a deep breath. "Sorry man," He thought, then closed his mouth over Stanley's, and blew two full breaths. He looked sideways, and saw Stanley's chest rise slightly. Good, he was doing it right. Thank god. One breath of air for Stanley. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be enough.  
  
One, two, three, four, and five...Deep breath, breathe. Inhale, exhale. One, two, three, four, five. You know, this would be so much more amusing if it was on a hot blonde. One, two, three four, five. Deep breath, breathe. Inhale, exhale.  
  
The rest of the tent watched. It was obvious at the look of disgust on Squid's face, that he wasn't exactly enjoying it. Hell, he looked like he was going to throw up. But they knew that, if anything, Squid was loyal. He wouldn't just let Stanley die, he would do whatever it took to save his friend. Squid's face shone with determination.  
  
Suddenly, Squid felt Stanley's chest quiver, then rise and fall. On it's own. Rise and fall. Rise and fall. Breathing. Then it shook, as Stanley erupted into coughing. But his eyes snapped open, and he was breathing. Squid wiped his mouth, and watched as Zero helped Stanley lean up a little bit.  
  
X-Ray patted Squid on the back.  
  
"Good job, man." He said, looking surprisingly proud as he grinned temporarily at Squid. "Gross, huh?"  
  
"Got that right." Squid winced, but he smiled in relief back at X-Ray. Stanley was still alive, and that's what mattered. But for how long?  
  
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" Pendanski literally squealed as he bounded into the tent with Magnet close on his heels.  
  
D-Tent rounded on its councillor.  
  
"Mom, do something to help Caveman, he's barely alive!" X-Ray shouted, glaring at Pendanski. Armpit crossed his arms, and stood dangerously close to the councillor. Squid glowered at him. Zigzag's eyes were narrowed dangerously. Magnet shoved Pendanski out of the way, and entered the tent himself, taking one look at Stanley, then joining the rest of the tent in glaring at Pendanski.  
  
Pendanski laughed nervously, sweat forming on his brow.  
  
"I'm here to help! I AM a doctor after all!" He squeaked. He bounced on his heels, clutching a small cloth bag to his chest with a crudely made red cross on the front created by red tape.  
  
X-Ray rolled his eyes, but pushed Pendanski towards Stanley. "Yeah, whatever. Just do something."  
  
Pendanski shook X-Ray off him, looking surprisingly like a ruffled hen. Leaning down over Stanley, he smiled into the tired boy's face. Stanley's drifting eyes snapped open, and his mind jerked into wakefulness. Pendanski. No, he'd make him worse...And he was tired, so tired...  
  
"Well, hey there, Stanley! How are you feeling?" Pendanski asked brightly, smiling like a child in school. A drip of sweat fell from beneath his short, curly black hair. He bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet unconsciously, making Stanley dizzy as he tried to concentrate at the weird smiling little dwarf man above him.  
  
"Like...crap." Stanley whispered, surprising everyone in the room by talking. His voice was harsh and cracked, but D-Tent was just relieved he was still able to talk.  
  
"S'oky, you're doing good man," Magnet said reassuringly to Stanley. Stanley smiled weakly back at him, his words of thanks dying at his lips and going unsaid, but Magnet understood.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll feel much better soon!" Pendanski opened the small bag, and pulled out a needle and thread. "Now, this will just hurt a tiny bit..."  
  
"Wait, hold up a minute there, Mom." X-Ray said suddenly. His eyes were wide with shock and dawning horror. "Your going to give him stitches NOW? With no anaesthetic? Are you crazy?"  
  
"Of course, Rex. All right, Stanley. Just relax, and it'll be over soon!" Pendanski said nervously, wiping sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. He clumsily tried a few times to thread the needle, but each time fell short of his minuscule goal. "Er, Ricky, you wouldn't mind simply putting the thread in the little hole, would you? There's a good kid."  
  
Zigzag nodded, and easily threaded the needle on his first try. Now D-Tent had absolutely no faith in their councillor's medical skills. And they were trusting him with their friend's life?  
  
"Okay, Stanley, I'll just..." Pendanski stopped talking as the boy stared at him with wide eyes, and shook his head. Stanley tried to back away, but Pendanski put a firm hand on his shoulder. His voice for the fist time changed from it's usual bright and cheeriness to a much darker, deeper tone. "Don't worry. This won't be TOO painful."  
  
"No...you're not touching me..." Stanley murmured, his breath coming and gasps, and his face deathly pale except for the occasional smear of dirt or blood. His hands scrabbled against the bed, trying to push himself away.  
  
"It'll be okay, Caveman," Armpit said, trying to smile but failing miserably. Zero said nothing, but grabbed Stanley's hand, silently telling him that he would remain by his side. The rest of the boys nodded, showing their support.  
  
"Good, come to your senses, I see!" Pendanski said, his voice returning to the fake positive-councillor of the usual. Stanley just stared back at him. Pendanski laughed uneasily, and tore away at the bloody clothing over the boy's abdomen. His face blanched slightly as he saw the complete length of the damage, and then the mask came over once again. As his fingers touched Stanley's skin, Stanley flinched away, but after a harsh glare from Pendaski, making him resemble and angry little dwarf, he submitted.  
  
The first thing Pendanski did, was to try to push the two sides of the gash together with his hands. Stanley cried out in pain, and squeezed Zero's hand so hard the small boy emitted a small yelp.  
  
"Oh, er, sorry." The 'doctor' muttered.  
  
"Waaay, professional." Zigzag whispered to Squid. Squid nodded. "This is so bullshit."  
  
"Hey, man, you're hurting him!" Armpit shouted as Pendanski prodded some more.  
  
"Relax, Theodore, this is how this is supposed to work."  
  
"No, it ain't." Squid muttered.  
  
Pendanski readied the needle over Stanley's flesh. Stanley closed his eyes. Zero secured his hold on his hand. The boys around the cot tensed.  
  
Stanley screamed. His body jerked away from Pendanski, but the councillor forced it back, and did another incision. Again, Stanley jerked, crying out in pain.  
  
The boys watched him, their hearts going out to the poor boy that had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  
  
"Oh, come on Stanley! Suck it up!"  
  
Another stitch. Another gut-wrenching cry of pain.  
  
"Stop being such a girl!"  
  
More screams of agony, as the needle was thrust crudely into the skin, pulled out again, and tugged mercilessly tight. Stanley flailed his arms, trying to push Pendanski away. His back arched with pain, and he twisted and turned against the councillor.  
  
"Boys, come hold him down!!!"  
  
Zero kept hold of his hand, but the rest of the boys crouched around Stanley and held down his arms and legs.  
  
"It'll be over soon," Zero whispered to Stanley, doubtful if the boy even heard him.  
  
More harsh pulls and tugs on the thread, tearing skin, and causing fresh blood to stream out.  
  
After a few heart-crushing moments, Pendanski gave one last hard pull on the thread, tugging the stitches tight. Stanley's back arched in pain, his eyes squeezed shut in agony, with tears rushing down the sides of his face uncontrollably.  
  
"YOU SADISTIC BASTARD!" He screamed. The boys, stunned, let go of their charge temporarily. Stanley took the time to strike Pendanski across the face with his wrist. Then the rest of D-Tent got over its initial shock at quiet, morally-correct Stanley the Caveman swearing at the councillor, and they grabbed his arms again. That was so strange, so out of character for Stanley, that it was just proof of exactly how much pain he was in.  
  
Pendanski glared at Stanley, and tied the thread, giving a needlessly hard pull, which caused Stanley to gasp. Stanley's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he fell back against the cot.  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Notes: Mwahahaha! Alright, only one more chapter. I have half of it written, so it shouldn't take TOO long for me to get up!  
  
Please oh please review! It only takes a few seconds, and means the world to me! Also, I'll get the new chapter up faster...nothing inspires a writer like a good review...^_~  
  
Your writingful authoress,  
  
~Eh, Man  
  
]--------D 


	10. DTent Sticks Together

Author's Notes: Ta da!!!!!!! * Sob * It's the last chapter...and what's more, it's unbelievably short. And some of you might question some of the events, but email me (eh_manfiction@hotmail.com) and I'll gladly explain my motives to you.  
  
* Huggles her Lil' Zero muse for comfort * I can't believe I'm done writing this fic. Your reviews have made me continue where without support I would've stopped, and brightened my days. I wish to thank you all, for the time and effort it took to read and review this fic. They were all wonderful, and made me ecstatic with happiness.  
  
To answer my lovely reviews!  
  
Karebear: Eeep, no, not the Scary Warden Voice! Anything but that! ^_~  
  
Celestra: Ahhh, Lani! *sob* I can't believe I'm wrapping this up...*sniff* I thought of you when writing parts of this chapter, you'll know which ones. I'm deathly afraid of the Pandanski-Rats. Ohhhh creepyness: I was watching the credits of mighty ducks...and the main character coach dude, is played by the same actor as Two-Bit in The Outsiders!!! I'M FRIKKIN SERIOUS! Lol, that surpised me. Connections, connections. Ahah. For the final time, in the words of the fantastic Kate: You Are My Hero. Deal With It.  
  
ER: Yes, yes he is.  
  
GriffinFox: Are you doing voodoo? Or are you actually stabbing Pendanski with pins...:S  
  
Obsessed Elijah Fan: Ooops. Sorry about that. O_o Wounding readers isn't really what I had in mind...  
  
Artemis-Chan of Redwing: That can be arranged....STANLEY! *Stanley comes running over*  
  
Stanley- Yeah?  
  
Kate- Hug Artemis-Chan, will you?  
  
Stanley- Uh. Okay... *hug*  
  
There you go! I hope you enjoyed! ^_^  
  
Tears of Blood From My Eyes: Yupp, my fanfiction is right up there with drugs and alcohol. You know, addictive substances. O_O oh, you told me the last time I updated in my review. Look! It's on the review board! *points*  
  
Legofrodopip: Okaaaaay. Remind me to never get on your bad side, alright? O_o  
  
Lady Kyo: And wanting to read more is a bad thing? ^_~  
  
Eldalie Lavinia: ...rabid prairie dogs? Sure, why not... Haha, well, I TRIED to make my story seem at least slightly believable....I dunno how well I did. :S  
  
Burnin': Chocolate covered shrooms? Well, that's different. Yay! *shares Shrooms with Burnin's hobbit muses* Whee! ^_^ haahaha It's okay, I've bugged a lot of writers to update in my time coughstilldocough. I don't know what's happening over at that site, I've been so busy lately I've had no time to go there or the Posse board. *sob* It's tragic, I can tell you. -_- Wow, I'm proud of you, this is actually a fairly on-topic review! ^_^ Whee! Lol. ..er...You know, I'd laugh with you, but I have no idea what you're laughing about...:S Oh, I get it! *starts to laugh with burnin* I like how on it I am, ahah. ^_~ Uhhhh, sorry. I think I'm making multiple people sick. O_o Oops. Not really the intent. Lol, it's a perk! Haha. :P Thank you! ^_^ Oh, sorry, can I use your shovel magiggiger? Please? I'm going to assume you said yes, so thank you! Lol. ^_^  
  
THE POSSE: (Ya know who ya are! :P) Thanks you guys for being there to help me all the way! You guys rock! (whee, look at little ol' me getting all sappy. XD) Keep on spreading the holes love, and party on.  
  
Okay, now I'll get right to the story. Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Holes.  
  
~*~  
  
Stanley opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the world doing continuous loop-de-loops around his head. The second thing he noticed was the bone-piercing pain shooting through his abdomen. The third and final thing he noticed, was that Zero was bending over him, staring intently into his eyes.  
  
"Hey...Zee."  
  
Zero's face split into a wide grin. "Zee? You sure your not delirious, man?"  
  
"Could be."  
  
"How you feelin'? We kicked mom out after you passed out, we thought he was making you worse or something. But X-Ray figured the stitches probably helped, somehow, and so left them in. You were all pale, and barely breathing. Armpit came outta nowhere and said you weren't gunna make it unless you got blood, because you lost a whole bunch of it, I bet you've noticed. So Armpit said how he knew how to do a blood transfusion from being in a gang, so I volunteered, and that's why you have a bandage on your arm." Zero said quickly, all in one breath, and raised his arm to show a crude white bandage over the upper part of his arm. "Squid said somthin' about different kinds of blood, but we didn't know what kind you had, so we had to trust our luck. You-"  
  
"Whoa." Stanley said, raising his eyebrows and holding up his hand a few inches. "And they say you don't talk. Jeez. Slow down a bit, Zero."  
  
Zero was staring at him with wide eyes.  
  
"What?" Stanley asked, confused, shifting slightly at the pain in his belly.  
  
"Your...better."  
  
Stanley blinked, and thought this over. He sure didn't FEEL like he was better. But after actually thinking about it for a few seconds Stanley realized he was better. A lot. Maybe not compared to healthy-Stanley, but certainly a step up then he had been a few hours ago...last night...yesterday....  
  
"How long have I been asleep?"  
  
Zero brushed some of his curls out of his face, and shifted his hands on the side of Stanley's cot. "Two days."  
  
"Wow..." Stanley stared at the canvas tent above him as it slowly completed another turn.  
  
"Yeah. Feel like digging a hole?"  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
Zero shrugged. "I like to dig holes."  
  
"Bull."  
  
Zero smirked. "I'm serious, man!"  
  
"Whatever, Zee, whatever."  
  
Their lively conversation was interrupted as Magnet walked into the tent whistling. He stopped in shock as he saw Stanley awake and talking to Zero, and stared at him for a second. Then he turned and ran out of the tent.  
  
"Okaaay."  
  
Their unspoken wonderings were answered as they heard Magnet shouting to the other boys outside. Zero and Stanley heard the sound of many feet pounding on packed dirt, then they broke their way into the tent.  
  
"CAVEMAN!"  
  
"Hey, guys."  
  
"We thought you were a goner, kid."  
  
"Welcome back, Neanderthal."  
  
"You were dead for sure!"  
  
"Si, we were scared, man."  
  
"I guess we tricked the lizards this time."  
  
Everyone turned and stared at Zigzag.  
  
"What?" He asked, completely clueless. D-Tent turned back to Stanley.  
  
"How you feelin'? You look a hell lot better." Squid asked, pushing Stanley back down in a horizontal position on his cot. He pressed his hand to Stanley's forehead and looked surprised. "Man, you get better quick."  
  
"Thanks," Stanley drawled sarcastically, he grinned at his friends though. "I feel way better, compared to what I felt before."  
  
"I'll bet." X-Ray snorted, patting Stanley on the back. "You should 'a seen Mom's face today, Man. Bright red mark on his face. You really socked him good."  
  
"Hey, you'll be digging holes like the rest of us again, soon." Zigzag smiled.  
  
"He can't wait," Magnet said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Give it time, you'll be good as new in no time at all. You're a fighter, right?" X-Ray asked, saying right like it was a rhetorical question and deserved no argument.  
  
Stanley looked up at his friends smiling around him, and knew things could only get better.  
  
"Right," Stanley agreed.  
  
~*~  
  
EPILOGUE  
  
----------------  
  
"Alright, commercials over, all you kids back in the pool so us adults can have a good relaxing cup of coffee." Stanley Yelnats the third said, smiling proudly.  
  
"Ahh, a cup of coffee would really hit the spot right about now." Clyde Livingston said with a contented sigh and patted his stomach. His wife leaned over and gave him a slight shove, laughing as he grinned at her.  
  
"See you later...mom." Hector Zeroni said awkwardly, a blush lighting up his face as his mother ruffled his hair fondly.  
  
"C'mon, Zero!" Squid yelled from the door, and Zero nodded, grabbing his towel from the coffee table. Stanley Yelnats the fourth pulled him gently by the arm towards the door, away from his long-lost mother.  
  
"Wait!" Mrs. Yelnats yelled to the boys suddenly. The D-Tenters at the door turned towards her curiously.  
  
"Stanley, honey, what's that on your stomach?" She asked, her eyes wide with worry.  
  
Her shirtless son looked down at the 8-inch wide scar just above his belly button and swimming trunks.  
  
"Oh." Stanley said, pausing. Then he looked up at the rest of the boys and his frown turned into a quick grin. They look curiously back at him, unsure of what he was going to say.  
  
"The tent door slammed into it!"  
  
~*~  
  
Author's Note: So? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Please review and tell me what you thought!  
  
And once more thank you to all you awesome readers. You guys make writing worth writing.  
  
Thanks.  
  
~Eh, Man ]--------D  
  
-KATE  
  
November 11, 2003 


End file.
